


Whispers From the Wind

by starryrosez



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Percy Jackson Fusion, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Lovers, Insecure Lance (Voltron), M/M, Supportive Keith (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-04-26 17:43:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14407194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starryrosez/pseuds/starryrosez
Summary: Lance is the son of Khione, the goddess of snow whose voice can confirm and reinforce the insecurities and fears of whomever she chooses (because her voice is "soft and cold, like snow"). Lance inherited this "gift" and unknowingly reinforces his own fears and insecurities, causing a downward spiral. Can a certain son of Ares help Lance? Or will Lance be frozen in this state forever?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the [Klance Reverse Bang.](https://klancereversebang.tumblr.com/)  
> Enjoy! <3

Her hands are as cold as ice in his. She’s always been beautiful, but in that white dress she looks ethereal. She shoves something into his arms, it’s lightweight but heavy enough that it takes him by surprise. Her black hair sways in the wind as her eyes meet his own. She’s always been cold and distant but this encounter seems a lot harsher than what he’s used to-especially after months of getting to know each other. She points to the bundle of cloth in his arms.

 

“This is yours,” she says in that sweet velvety voice of hers, “His name is Lance. Take care of him.”

 

She steps closer to him and cups his face before leaning in. Her lips touch his own once more before she turns around beginning to descend down the steps of the porch heading into the snow storm that has begun a while back. He stares at her back as she goes, admiring the way the snow makes her look more alluring and witnesses her stopping before turning around. Her eyes show no emotion but there’s a hint of a smile on her face as she adds, “I hope he turns out more like you rather than I.” 

 

The man blinks staring at the woman, “What do you mean--

 

She’s gone, whisked away by the blizzard without a single trace before he could finish. The man looks down at the bundle in his arms and unwraps it. In his arms is a baby boy, with tan skin and tuffs of brown curls on his head. He peacefully sleeps in the man’s arms, his cheeks rosey from the cold. The man smiles down at his son and kisses his forehead. “Let’s get you inside and warm you up.”

 

\---

 

Lance sits in the back of his father’s mini van, a backpack and small luggage filled with all of his belongings nestled between his legs. On either side of him are his half-siblings, twins, five years younger named Isabella and Dylan restlessly shoving and pushing against him as they argue over ‘who loves their big brother more.’ Anybody else would find it annoying, but Lance is used to this jostle, it’s apart of his everyday life and he  _ loves _ it. He turns to the window and watches as the rocky coastline of the east coast breezes by. It’s July, which means Long Island is going to be hot and humid for another while. Lance doesn’t mind, but he still prefers the cold ambiance the winter brings. As they reach a hill with a sign that reads, “STRAWBERRY FARM,” Lance’s step-mother a gorgeous cuban woman named Rosa turns to Lance and the others. She smiles gently at her children as she says, “We’re almost at the camp, say your goodbyes to your brother.”

 

“I don’t want you to go!” Dylan whines as he hugs Lance, “You’re the only one who wants to play pokemon with me!”

 

Lance hums as he hugs his little brother back. Despite having different mothers, they have a similar appearance, the same brown skin and coffee-colored hair, but Lance’s eyes are blue while Dylan’s eyes are dark, like chocolate. Lance smoothes a hand over Dylan’s short-cropped hair and kisses his forehead. He can feel the tears from his brother beginning to form. He leans down to Dylan’s ear and smiles as he whispers in a soft voice, “I’m sure if you feel lonely, you can convince somebody to play with you.” 

 

Immediately, Dyan stops crying and he clearly brightens, a smile as radiant as the sun adorning his face as he nods enthusiastically. “Okay!” he exclaims.

 

“I’ll miss you too Lance!” Isabella, the princess of the family, throws herself onto Lance, “When Mama braids my hair she tugs too much and it hurts my scalp.”

 

Lance chuckles abit as he softly tells her, “Look up some videos on YouTube and teach yourself. Then we can compete to see who is better.”

 

Isabella gasps and squeals excitedly, “You’re on!”

 

Lance smiles to himself. Having charm-speak makes being a big brother _ easy _ . He can coax his siblings in an instant. 

 

Lance’s father, Marcos-who Lance takes after- chuckles in amusement as he addresses the children in the back seat,  “Have fun at camp Lance, make your parents proud.”

 

Whether he’s referring to just the family he lives with, or his biological mother as well, the brunet does not know. Nor does he care. His mother, Khione, the goddess of snow is a stone cold bitch, like frostbite in freezing weather. She’s never bothered to get in contact with Lance, not even a little note that said, “ _ Hey! Mommy is just checking up on you to see if you’re alive! _ ” Nope. Instead, he didn’t even know who his biological mother was until he was 12 when he was first admitted to Camp Half-Blood after an incident at the end of sixth grade with a cyclops. (He didn’t  _ know  _ that freezing the cyclops who was disguised as his classmate would raise alarms, okay?) After about a month of sleeping in the corner of Hermes’ cabin, he was casually hanging out at the bonfire, telling his new friends a story when the air suddenly grew chilly. Lance had shivered miserably for a good two minutes as everybody stared at him in shock. During the process he turned to a boy his age, one with black hair and seemed intimidating and unfriendly that Lance had yet to learn his name yet and asked, “What’s wrong?”

 

The boy, agasp and too surprised to react, slowly pointed to the top of his head, “Above you--” 

 

Lance looked up and gasped, staring in shock at the glowing baby blue orb above his head. In the middle of the orb was a single snowflake in white, rotating clockwise as the orb floated above his head. There were some clouds surrounding the sphere, and tiny little specks of snow drifted down to the earth from the cloud. Lance’s jaw dropped, he was claimed by the goddess of snow! Lance tried wracking through his brain, searching for the name of that goddess and her name, but he couldn’t quite remember--

Suddenly a girl in her mid-teens with glossy, long white hair and dark skin stood up. Lance hadn’t had the chance to speak with her yet but he knew that she was a child of Athena, “Everybody welcome Lance: son of Khione!”

 

There’s an eruption of people applauding as Lance stood there blushing and waving nervously. Lance was so excited, to have moved to a new cabin where he had an actual  _ bed _ . She’s a minor goddess so her cabin is in a separate section of the camp along with the other minor gods, but he was happy to share a cabin with two older siblings. They were a bit aloof, which was a characteristic of Khione’s kids (and why many people were surprised that Lance was the snow goddess’ son), but they were the best older siblings Lance could ask for. The oldest of the two, Corben was 14 when Lance first met his brother. Corben looked exactly like the goddess, black hair with dark eyes and pale skin. Corben was gifted with being able to freeze water and taught Lance how to conjure ice. The younger sibling, his half-sister, Kristy was about a year older than Lance with blonde hair and icy blue eyes with no special powers outside of a strange form of charm speak that works best when used to reaffirm one’s insecurities. She discovered that he too had that special charm speak that was more commonly inherited by Aphrodite’s children and taught him how to use it. That entire summer Lance had expressed his excitement to meet his mother sometime and didn’t understand the silent nods his older siblings gave him followed by an unenthusiastic reply. When she never showed up, Lance was disappointed but he had hope that she’d come some day.

 

But she never did, and every year Lance began to resent his mother a little more. It’s been four years since he’s been first admitted to Camp Half-Blood. He couldn’t give any less of a shit about Khione.

 

Lance smiles at his dad as he stretches his tired limbs in the van, not caring about accidentally whacking his siblings in the face, “Thanks dad,” he replies, “I will.” 

 

The van stops at the bottom of the hill and he climbs out of it. He looks up at the top of the hill and studies the infamous pine tree. It’s the same as it’s always been since he’s arrived. Evergreen, with a golden fleece hanging on one of the branches and a beautiful dragon dozing by it on guard for any thieves. He’s heard the story behind the tree many times, it’s a boundary, a protector for all of the demigods within its border.

 

Lance takes a deep breath before turning back to his family, giving a small wave to them. He begins trekking up the hill and past the borders of Camp Half-Blood. It’s already afternoon, and the camp activities are in full swing. The children of Apollo are in the arts and craft painting a sculpture of their father with astounding precision. Down by the volleyball pit, Athena’s and Ares’ children are in the midst of a heavy tournament with Aphrodite's kids sitting in the bleachers cheering (it was more like half-hearted whoops whenever Ares’ kids earned a point while they gossiped and checked their appearance in the mirror but Lance doesn’t wanna judge). At the amphitheatre, Dionysus’ children were rehearsing Shakespeare plays. He can make out mixtures of other cabins at the arena and climbing wall, honing in on their demigod abilities. Lance smiles as he treks through the camp, casually greeting all of his friends as he heads toward his cabin. He hasn’t spotted his siblings yet, but he wouldn’t be surprised if they weren’t there yet. Lance reaches his cabin and heads inside. As soon as he enters, he is met with the backs of Kristy and Corben as they set up their bunk bed. It seems like they’ve just arrived as well.

 

“Hey guys,” Lance greets as he dumps his belongings onto his designated bed.

 

Kristy turns around and gasps, a smile spreading across her face as she excitedly yells, “Lance!” She throws her arms around Lance and squeezes him tightly before parting. Her blue eyes sparkle a bit as she asks gently, “How you’ve been?” She turns to Corben, “Lance is here.”

 

Corben rolls his eyes as he drops his clothes onto his bed he gives his sister a cold-stare, “I know, Kristy, jesus, give me a minute,” he turns back to his belongings and picks up from where he left off. With his back facing Lance he nonchalantly says, “Hey Lance, how are you?”

 

“I’m good,” Lance answers, “Great, now that I’m here.”

 

“Good,” Kristy chuckles as she walks back to her bed. Kristy’s more sociable than Corben, but she still struggles with interactions. She’s poor at keeping up a conversation and her sentences are often short and curt, even if she tries to be friendly. In reality, the most outgoing of Khione’s children is Lance. He’s the only one out of the three that keep a conversation going.

 

“How about you guys?” Lance asks as he turns to unpack his own stuff. He neatly takes out his clothes and organizes them on his bed as his siblings respond, “Anything interesting happened this year?”

 

Kristy snorts as she folds one of her shirts and places it in her drawer, “Remember Zack?”

 

“Zack? The creepy guy who had a crush on you last year?” Lance asks.

 

“Yeah him. He asked me to be his date to prom.”

 

“And…?”

 

“I said yes,” Kristy smiles as she tucks a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. Gorgeous light blue earrings dangle from them, and a golden cuff rests at the top of the ear lobe. She indicates her earrings, “He gave these earrings to me, aren’t they nice?”

 

Corben turns around, suddenly interested in the conversation with a puzzled look, “You said yes to him? What are you now? Dating?”

 

“Yeah,” Kristy snaps at her brother before turning away, a face of adoration on her face as she says, “He’s actually really...sweet.”

 

Lance laughs, “Seriously? After all of the torture you’ve done to him? I’m surprised he still likes you.”

 

“So am I,” Kristy pouts, “But I bet Corben had a better year than I did, right?”

 

Corben glares at his sister, “What does that mean?”

 

“Nothing,” she smiles teasingly as she continues folding her clothes.

 

“Hey, if the game is still going when we finish, want to watch the Athena’s cabin kick Ares’ cabin butt at the volleyball court?” Lance asks as he shoves the last article of clothing into his drawer. 

 

Kristy tilts her head, considering the offer, “Maybe not today, I don’t have the energy to deal with some of the Aphrodite campers today.”

 

“Fair enough,” Lance replies. They can be a lot for somebody like Kristy who is friendly and can appear as outgoing, but is actually somebody who prefers to be alone. 

 

“I don’t want to interact with them in general,” Corben says as he opens an empty drawer.

 

“Well that’s because you hate people,” Kristy says as she picks up a pair of socks and places it onto a pile of other socks on the bed, “and you always say no to everything anyways.”

 

Corben doesn’t respond. Instead he picks up one of his shirts and throws it at Kristy. 

 

“Ew, I don’t want your smelly shirts!” Kristy shouts as she throws it back at him. She composes herself and turns to her baby brother, “Besides, they’re going to be calling us soon for food. It’s best to just hang out here until it’s time.”

 

Lance nods, “Okay.”

 

They continue unpacking in silence. Once they have finished, they barely have time to relax in their cabin before they’re called down for food. The three of them head down to the Mess Hall together. There they gather their food and take a seat at their table. Lance tells his siblings more about his year until he’s interrupted. 

 

“May I grab your attention please?” A young woman with long white hair claps her hands to grab everyone's attention. The chatter across the camp ceased as they turn to her. Lance immediately recognizes her as the daughter of Athena, Allura. Allura is a former camper who now helps Chiron with camp activities. She still sleeps in the Athena cabin with her siblings despite the fact that she mostly hangs out by the arena and trains younger demigods. She’s very formal, Lance has yet to see her slouch when she sits. She’s attention grabbing, everywhere Allura goes all eyes are on her. It’s no wonder how she manages to grab the attention of almost 200 kids at the camp with just a simple shout. As she addresses the crowd, she stands up all straight and proper like royalty. “Welcome to Camp Half-Blood everybody! We’d love to welcome back our summer campers, everybody please give them a hand.”

 

There’s a few moments of applaud mixed with campers chattering among themselves before Allura indicates the camp to quiet down, “And welcome!” She grabs her cup, filled with cranberry juice and lifts it up in the air, “To our new campers!” Everybody follows her example and lifts their glass in the air. Lance’s cup immediately is filled with grape juice as he lifts his cup. Allura turns towards the tables where all the newcomers who had to be claimed sit. Their cups are also raised, but they look either slightly confused or uncomfortable. “We hope that you’ll enjoy your stay with us. Cheers!” Allura clinks her glass with the rest of her table before taking a drink of her juice. 

 

“Cheers!” Lance clinks his glass with Kristy before taking a swig. Corben mumbles something before taking a sip of his coke. 

 

The room momentarily resumes it’s previous chatter before another demigod stands up. Instead of clapping his hands he snaps his fingers, sending down a streak of light into the middle of the hall. Everybody immediately turns their head towards the culprit, for there can only be one. There is only one person in the entire camp that can summon lightning by snapping their fingers. As soon as Lance’s eyes land on the culprit, his heart skips a beat. Takashi Shirogane, the famous son of Zeus, another former camper well-known for his astounding and heroic accomplishments and now their defense in combat instructor. If anybody symbolized how a modern demigod is like, he would be among the list with some of the greatest demigods in the modern era. Like,  _ Percy Jackson _ great. He as well is the only current son of Zeus that resides in the camp. Everybody admires him, wants to be like him, even Lance idolizes him. He had arrived the same summer the 20 year old demigod had went on that infamous quest along with two others. Lance aspires to be just as great as a demigod as him.

 

_ You know that won’t happen. _ A voice inside his head whispers softly.  _ He’s the son of one of the Big three while you’re just the son of a minor goddess _ .  _ You’ve never even been on a quest _ . 

 

Lance freezes at the voice. It’s soft and velvety like a whisper in his head. Is it…? No, it’s just his own mind trying to corrupt him. He ignores the other jarring comments his thoughts have and focuses on the son of Zeus. 

 

“This Friday, we’ll be starting our Cabin Games. Each cabin will be competing against each other in a series of events. The winners of each event get a certain amount of points. The cabin with the most amount of points by the end wins a month with no chores!”

 

The entire dining pavilion bursts into excitement over the prospect that they won’t have to be scrubbing pots and digging musty hair out of drains over the next week. Lance himself is excited to put his powers to use. 

 

“Smaller cabins are allowed to combine with each other to form bigger teams and split up the reward,” Shiro adds, “But no cabin with more than 10 campers can team up with another.” He gives a long and hard stare at the Hermes table before resuming, “We wish you the best of luck, may the gods be with you.”

 

He sits down at his table with the other instructors, and Allura gives him a reassuring squeeze on his arm. Lance doesn’t know the whole story but dryads have been spreading rumors the two have a thing for each other. Not that Lance cares, because he totally did _ not _ have crushes on the two of them simultaneously when he was 14. And it’s definitely not ironic that the two demigods that have triggered Lance’s bisexual awakening are now dating.  _ Totally _ .

 

_ Why did you even think you could date two of the most beloved demigods? You’re a nobody compared to them. _

 

“Hey,” Lance playfully nudges his sister’s side, “We are  _ so _ going to win. We just need to side with one of the bigger cabins that can give us an advantage.”

 

Kristy nods as she quickly scans the camp. Most cabins already had met the criteria of ten demigods except for a select few. Most of those cabins were the cabins of minor gods which unfortunately, most didn’t even have kids. Kristy turns to Corben giving him a silent plea to help them think of which cabin to ally themselves with. Corben sighs as he turns around and watches the other tables with Kristy.

 

“Oh! Demeter’s cabin has eight campers, and you’re friends with headcamper Hunk right, Lance?” Kristy suggests.

 

Lance nods. Hunk, the eldest of the kids of Demeter, is one of Lance’s best friends at the camp. The two of were newcomers the same year and arrived around the same time. Since they were both new, the two of them sort of bonded over the relative confusion and stress of finding out that their whole lives were flipped upside down and everything that they know is incorrect. The two hung out often, even after camp was out of session so the two of them are extremely close. Lance gaze shifts over to the Demeter table and meets Hunk’s gaze who waves. He knows that Hunk is thinking the same thing and Lance gives him a playful wink to tell him that his cabin is under the process of considering it.

 

“They aren’t good at combat,” Corben clips.

 

“And..?” Kristy exasperatedly indicates her older brother to continue.

 

“The events that will earn us the most points will all be ones based off of combat and action,” Corben says, “Capture the Flag, Chariot Racing, Hunting and the One  _ vee  _ One,” he rattles the events off, “We’ll need a cabin with more combat ability if we want to win.”

 

Lance pouts and turns to Hunk, grimly shaking his head.  _ Sorry buddy _ . 

 

“Oh, Dionysus’ cabin has five!” Kristy says, “and they have powers that are useful in combat.”

 

“Yeah but they all take drugs and care more about partying than anything else,” Corben nods his head over to the direction of their table.

 

Kristy and Lance look at the table and watch the demigods for a minute. They all are chattering happily and fooling around. There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with it but giving a once over at the tables who were all huddled together formulating plans, really showed how little Dionysus’ cabin cared about the games. Corben’s right they wouldn’t be a good match.

 

“ _ Okay _ ,” Kristy grits her teeth as she turns to Corben, “ _ You _ suggest the cabin we team up with then.”

 

“Ares,” Corben says.

 

“Ares?!” Lance and Kristy gape at Corben who smugly picks up at his drink.

 

“B-but,” Kristy glares at the Ares table, jealous that she didn’t think of them before, “aren’t they above the limit…?”

 

Corben smiles, “They lost 3 campers last year and have yet to gain a new camper. They currently have nine campers,” Corben indicates the amount with his fingers, a proud smirk written across his face as he explains, “There’s three of us so that’ll make twelve. We’ll only be two campers short from Athena’s cabin and 4 behind Aphrodite. If the beauty kids decide to participate.” 

 

“Wow Corben. You actually contributed something for the sake of our cabin,” Kristy teases, “And it’s actually pretty smart.”

 

Corben rolls his eyes, “I’m only doing it because I don’t want to do any chores for a month. Which means you,” he turns to Lance and gives him a hard stare, “need to work extra hard for these events.”

 

“Me?!” Lance offendedly gasps, “Kristy and I do all the work while you slack off!”

 

“What he means is that you’re the one who inherited more of our mother’s abilities,” Kristy sighs, “Which means you need to carry the team on our side.”

 

“Alright alright,” Lance smiles triumphantly as he places his hands on his hips, “Lancey Lance is here to save the day!” 

 

Kristy giggles as she places a hand on his shoulder, “Yes you are. I’ll go and talk with the Ares cabin and see if they want to work with us.”

 

“Okay,” Corben replies as she heads over in the direction of the Ares cabin. He takes another swig of his drink as he adds, “Let’s hope she doesn’t have to manipulate them into joining us.”

 

“She doesn’t manipulate them,” Lance defends, “She just…. strongly suggests her point.”

 

“Uh huh,” Corben replies, turning to face his sister who is walking back to their table. “So, did we get them?”

 

“That fucking Keith,” Kristy grits her teeth as she slides back into her seat, “He shot me down before I even proposed it!”

 

Lance’s heart skips a beat at the mention of Keith. He tries to hold down his surprise by taking a sip of his grape juice but he almost spits it out, blowing his cover. Corben gives Lance a funny look before asking Kristy, “Did he say why?”

“Something about ‘We can handle ourselves without the extra help,’” Kristy mockingly mimics his voice,”My gods, he’s a real prick that’s what!” 

 

“Not a surprise there,” Corben comments, “Remember when he blew you off, Lance?”

 

Lance gives a rigid nod as he swallows some more juice. How can he not remember? Keith, the pride and joy of Ares, is one of the rudest people he’s ever met. The two are about the same age but Keith has been a camper since he was 5 years old, making him the longest-staying camper alive. He’s an excellent swordsman and is highly acclaimed for being one of Shiro’s companions on that famous quest 4 years ago. It’s amazing, here they are, Lance and Keith both demigods of the same age and yet the rude one is famous. 

 

“He’s a stuck up jerk,” Lance agrees as he pats Kristy’s back, “Don’t worry, we can always form an alliance later, right? It’s not like Ares is going to turn us down because they want somebody else. It’s their loss.”

 

Kristy sighs, “You’re right.” She turns her head to the direction of the Ares table before meeting Lance’s eyes, “We can win this  _ without _ them.” 

 

_ No you can’t and you know that. You’re going to drag your siblings down.  _

 

“That’s the spirit,” Lance grins, “Team Ice Ice Baby let’s go.”

 

Kristy gives Lance a cold stare before snorting, “ _ Ice Ice Baby _ ?”

 

“It’s genius, I know,” Lance proudly remarks as he places his hand on the table, “C’mon go team!”

 

“We’re definitely changing the team name,” his brother protests as he places his hand on Lance’s.

 

“Agree, you suck Lance,” his sister teases before putting her hand in the middle.

 

_ Your sister is right, you’re the worst demigod ever. _

 

“Okay but it sticks until we think of something better,” Lance huffs. 

 

“Deal,” Corben says, “Go team.”

 

“Go team!” Kristy and Lance follow Corben’s example and lift their hands in the air. 

Not a bad way to start off camp.

 

The days leading up to Friday pass by with a blur with preparations and planning throughout the whole camp. Lance catches glimpses of each of the cabins preparing for the upcoming games. He catches the Holt siblings, both children of Hephaestus, in the Arts and Crafts constructing their traps and fixing their sibling’s weapons for the upcoming events. It has already been confirmed that the first event would be Capture the Flag and will be held Friday afternoon. Since no cabins decided to combine in the end, Shiro and Allura divided the cabins into two teams just for the game. Lance had quickly skimmed the paper that was posted outside of the Big House searching for his cabin’s team. Khione’s children are to be on the Blue Team with Athena, Zeus, Poseidon Demeter and Aphrodite. Lance had been standing right next to Hunk when he went to check and he immediately rested his elbow on his best friend’s shoulder and teasingly whispered, “Looks like we’re working together for now.”

 

Hunk gasped in surprise, eyes bulging out as he glanced down at Lance before laughing, “Guess we are. With the two of us working together, Red Team doesn’t stand a  _ chance _ ,” The two teens fist bumped. 

 

“You got that right,” Lance smiled, “We should formulate a plan with the others before Friday so we can surprise those suckers.”

 

Right at that moment, Keith had stepped onto the porch of the Big House to check out the list. He was in his greek armor, and he looked really sweaty, with his long hair tousled in all sorts of directions. It looked like he had just been training at the arena. Lance found himself eyeing the son of Ares as he read the list. When did Keith become so attractive? Lance found himself unable to look away as Keith turned around, the corner of his lip turned slightly upwards as he descended down the stairs again. He turned to Allura and Shiro who were sitting on the stairs, discussing camp activities and remarked, “Nice to know that the two of you teamed up against me. You’re not even supposed to be in the game, you’re supposed to spectate it.”

 

Allura and Shiro looked up teasing glints in their eyes as Shiro replied, “And miss an opportunity to kick your ass again? I wouldn’t dream of it.”

 

“Besides, we got Coran and Chiron spectating, we don’t need anybody else.” Allura responded. “It’ll be fun! Just like the old times.”

 

“Right,” Keith smiled as he walked away from the Big House, “Ares is going to win.”

 

“Not when Athena always has a plan!”

 

Lance had watched Keith walk away before the magic suddenly getting disrupted by Allura’s voice. 

 

“Lance?”

 

Lance turned to the camp advisors and blushed, “Sorry, can you repeat that?”

 

“Meet us here after dinner so we can devise a plan,” she said, a motherly-like smile on her face. It surprised Lance on how different Allura acted with the other campers compared to Shiro and Keith. Well, they don’t call them the “Golden Trio” for nothing. 

 

“Right,” Lance nodded, “I should get going.”

 

Which brings him to the current moment, sitting on a chair squished between his two siblings as Allura and Shiro conduct a meeting. There’s about thirty or so demigods all cramped into the meeting room all looking uncomfortable and impatient as Shiro finally rolls out a map of the forest. There’s a collection of ‘aws’ as the room marvels at the precise map they’ve never seen before. 

 

“Alright, listen up,” Shiro plants his hands on his hips as he addresses the crowd, “We’re up against Keith and the rest of the Ares cabin and while they’re gonna be tough to beat, it’s not impossible. But in order to beat Keith, we need a thorough plan to counter every possible move he could make. Allura?”

 

Allura tugs on a charm a part of her bracelet and a shimmering silver light forms in her hand as she steps towards the map. When the light fades, there’s a pencil in her hand and she leans over the table towards where the creek is and circles it.

 

“You all know the rules of the game, this creek marks the boundary between the two sides. This side,” she extends her pencil and lightly taps the far side of the creek, “is our side. While the other side is theirs.” Allura circles threw areas on the opponent’s side of the map, “They will have their flag planted in one of these areas, and no matter what, each area will be defended by various traps from the Hephaestus cabin and snipers from Apollo. Besides that, there will be limited defense. The real focus will be on offense, which means we need a larger defense and stronger offense.” Allura quickly draws the symbol of a trident by the creek, “One of Poseidon’s son should be by the creek to attack anybody with water that comes by and one of Khione’s children should also be at that post to freeze the water,” Allura looks up and turns to Lance, “Are you up for it?”

 

Lance nods and proudly smiles as he winks at her, “You can count on me.”

 

_ You’re going to fail. _ That soft and cold voice retorts making Lance shiver. 

 

-

 

Lance sits on his bunk, polishing his weapons. They were two pistols, that when combined magically formed a larger gun. It had a good round of celestial bronze bullets, but it also had other forms that can be used against others. It was useful for long distance battles but Lance wishes he had something like a knife for closer ranges. Not that he knew how to use one anyways. 

 

Words from the meeting bounce around in his head, mixed in with his own insecurities.

 

_ They shouldn’t rely so heavily on you. You’re a weak demigod. The team would be better without you. You’re replaceable.  _

 

With every thought he has, Lance feels a little colder and a little less motivated for tomorrow’s game. 

 

_ They need their best on the field and you’re not one of them. It’s no wonder you’re border patrol.  _

 

Lance shakes his head as he pulls up a blanket from his bunk bed and wraps it around him shivering. He knows he’s needed. He may not be the best but he wasn’t paired with somebody for nothing. He  _ has  _ a part to play. It’s not true, he’s needed.

 

_ Are you sure about that? _

 

“Shut up,” Lance grumbles as he sets his pistols on his drawer and shivers. Corben who is reading a book in his bed looks up curiously. Lance blushes and says, “Not you.” Corben nods before turning back to his book. 

 

Lance turns back to the drawer where his pistols have returned into their ear cuffs and Lance takes them gingerly before putting them on. 

 

_ You’re going to fail. _

 

Lance balls his fist angrily and wants to snap at his thoughts but Corben will only look at him funny. Besides he’s freezing in the middle of his cabin, he needs a moment to warm up and calm down. He can’t be like this tomorrow. 

 

“Goodnight,” Lance mumbles as he lies in bed, teeth clattering as he thinks about his whispering thoughts. Maybe if he sleeps he will feel better in the morning.

 

When Lance wakes up feeling even colder than he did the night before, Lance realizes he couldn’t be anymore wrong. Lance trudges through the morning routine trying to act like everything is normal even though it’s the complete opposite. When the time came for the entire camp to head into the forest, Lance is already in his armor, his helmet with the blue feathers held in his hand as he got to his position. It’s a warm summer day, and he’s grateful that the sun’s rays were providing some warmth for him. He watches as his sister joins the group that will act as a decoy and Corben joins the other group. Lance sighs realizing that he’s going to be alone until a girl plops herself by the edge of the water and sighs dramatically. Lance looks down and peers at the girl, it’s the same one from yesterday, a daughter of Poseidon who is going to be working with Lance. What was her name again? Plax?

 

“Ready to kick ass?” she asks, a sincere smile on her face as she looks up at Lance. Her eyes a bright green mixed with blue hues, reminding him of a peacock. She’s pretty in general, Lance remembers her black hair from last night that is now poking out of her helmet. 

 

She gives Lance a hard stare and Lance realizes he hasn’t responded yet. P _ athetic, you can’t even communicate properly. _ Blushing, Lance responds, “Uh y-yeah.”

 

“I’m Plax by the way,” she says as she sticks her hand in the creek, “And you’re Lance, right?”

 

“As a matter of fact I am,” Lance winks and Plax giggles.

 

She opens her mouth to say something else but then the horn blares, indicating that the game has started. Plax stands up unsheathing her weapon: a trident that looks similar to that of her father. She goes into the creek where she will be invincible and gives a confident smirk towards Lance. Suddenly there’s rustling in the trees on the side of the opposing team and the two snap their heads towards that direction. Plax lifts her hand, signalling Lance to stay put while she investigates the commotion. Lance waits on his side keeping a lookout for any traps. Plax had just left the water when Lance spots somebody in the bush, with a dart...

 

“Watch out!” Lance calls out but it’s too late. One of Apollo’s children jumps out of the bush and aims an arrow at Plax’s feet. She whips her head and commands the water to attack their assailant but the arrow has already exploded into a brown mist making Plax cough. Lance manages to catch the water and freeze it trapping their attacker’s wrist in the ice. As the demigod struggles to break free so he can continue shooting, he curses allowing Lance to snatch the bow and toss it aside. Lance turns towards Plax’s direction but finds her to be long gone. The ice that traps the boy is already melting so Lance decides to make a break for it and races along the creek, as far as his tired and cold body lets him to. He runs so fast that he fails to notice a trip wire and he stumbles into it falling face first into the creek. Lance groans in pain as he steadily lifts himself up. Where the hell is Plax? He can’t freeze the water without her! 

 

Lance hears the distant sound of clanging and he realizes that he’s missing all the action. Not fair. He wants to be there fighting with his siblings. Lance lifts his pistol and frustratingly shoots a bullet at a tree. Immediately he feels a hand smack the back of his head. He knows it belongs to a dryad and Lance apologizes profusely before sitting on a nearby rock. 

 

_ Why am I so useless? _ Lance thinks to himself.  _ Because you are. _ His thoughts answer back and he curls in on himself. The coldness he feels is unbearable now, and while Lance usually enjoys the cold, this particular one isn’t comforting. His teeth clatter as he sits on that rock, rubbing his arms in a failed attempt to warm himself up. 

 

He can’t even do something as simple as border patrol. He wonders how his siblings are doing out in the fields somewhere, are they having fun? Does his team have the flag? God, he hopes nobody from the opposite team has gotten the flag yet. Lance rests his head on the rock and shudders.

 

“Are you alright?”

 

Lance opens his eyes and sits up. “W-who said that?”

 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you,” the voice belonged to a boy in his mid-teens that’s standing right behind him.

 

Lance yelps and jumps back, causing him to fall off the rock and unceremoniously land on his butt. Lance whips his head towards the direction of the voice but finds nobody there.  _ You’ve gone insane. _ Lance grabs his gun and squints, “Who said that?” Lance demands. 

 

“Oh,” the voice responds and a figure shimmers into life from where Lance had originally heard the voice. Where there was once nothing, now stood Keith, his sword sheathed and holding a headband in his hand. He’s in his armor aside from his helmet, Lance probably figured that instead of using a helmet, he uses the invisibility cloak that headband gives him. Keith’s hair is a mess, despite the fact that it’s pulled back into a ponytail, and he looks down at Lance with a face of genuine concern. The son of Ares steps down the rock and approaches Lance, who responds by aiming his gun at Keith’s chest. The boy stops abruptly before lifting his hands in surrender.

 

“I’m not here to fight you or trick you,” Keith says, and Lance can hear the sincerity in his words, “I was just passing by and happened to see you.” Keith pushes the gun out of the way and offers his hand to Lance, “You looked cold.”

 

“I am cold,” Lance snaps as he grabs the guy’s hand, “And I do not believe you are just  _ casually _ passing by. No, you’re trying to distract me and let one of your hooligans pass by me so that they can get the flag and your team wins the game,” Lance accuses as he shoves Keith away from him, “I am not stupid and you can’t fool me.”

 

Keith stumbles backward for a seconds, eyes blown wide and jaw dropped as if he isn’t sure of what to say. He blushes as slightly before hardening his expression, slightly annoyed with Lance, “What?! Where did you get that idea from?! Your skin looked almost blue on that rock! I just wanted to make sure--”

 

“Nope! Not buying it!” Lance interrupts as he aims his weapon at Keith’s chest again, “Sorry pretty boy, but not everybody falls under your charms. And you’re definitely not--”

 

Keith grabs his sword and lunges, knocking Lance’s gun out his hand. Lance’s jaw drops as he turns to Keith who seems now more angry than annoyed. His eyes look as if they’re glowing red and it terrifies Lance, “This isn’t about some stupid little game and a flag,” Keith snaps as he puts his sword away, “This is about you dammit can’t you seem I’m worried Lance?”

 

Lance blinks for a few moments staring at Keith. He feels like he’s suddenly transported back to that moment, a moment that feels like eons ago with that same menacing glare Keith has directed towards him. 

 

_ Of course he’s mad at you, have you ever looked at yourself? You’re an annoyance. _

 

Lance opens his mouth to say something when from the corner of his eye he sees Allura followed by one of Keith’s siblings running down the path straight towards the creek. The two demigods turn towards the commotion and Lance cheers as Allura crosses the border. 

 

“Woohoo!” Lance cheers as he and the rest of his team run towards Allura and hoist her in the air. She proudly waves the flag as she winks at Keith. Keith remains standing from where he was arms crossed frustratingly. From the corner of his eye he sees Shiro approach him, putting his prosthetic hand on Keith’s shoulder, the same way Lance’s father does with him. Since it looks like a private moment, Lance decides to focus on his attention on his team and their win. He couldn’t believe it, they actually won! 

 

_ Yeah, but this was a team effort, and you hardly did anything. Just wait until you compete against the others alone, your cabin is going to lose because of you _ .

 

The thought sends shivers all over Lance’s body but for some reason, the coldness he felt earlier has disappeared. Now to come and think about it, it disappeared sometime during his…  _ interaction _ with Keith. 

 

“Hey!” Hunk appears next to Lance with a huge smile on his face. He several smudges on his face, meaning that their end also had a struggle. “Distracting Keith while Allura got the flag was an awesome idea! I’m proud of you man!” He picks Lance up and hugs tightly. In his arms, Lance laughs and hugs his best friend back. 

 

“Yeah well, I did the best I could,” Lance proudly remarks as Hunk sets him down on the ground again. Kristy emerges from the crowd with an equally as big smile with Corben lagging behind with a more timid but equally as pleased expression. The two of them have their helmets off and have their hair all messed up with even twigs in their hair. Lance plucks a twig out of his sister’s hair as she hugs him. 

 

“We were all so worried that Keith would slip past us! We had him but then he slipped on his stupid invisibility cloak and escaped! By the time we caught up and found him, he was already talking to you! Thank you so much for distracting him! You’re the best!”

Lance pats his sister’s back as he turns towards the direction Keith had been. He’s alone again and staring directly at Lance with a curious and concerned look. The look makes Lance blush and he quickly averts his attention back to his siblings.

 

“Well, you know me, I bring everybody to the yard,” Lance brags as Kristy ruffles his hair.

 

“That’s my little brother.”

 

“Hey guys!” Allura shouts from her throne atop of their teammates holding her up, “There’s Celebratory delivered pizza for the winning team at the pavilion!”

 

“C’mon,” Kristy turns to her brothers, “We should get some of that pizza before it gets cold.”

 

Corben snorts, “Yeah like that’ll bother you.”

 

“You’re right, it would bother me and my fragile cold heart,” Kristy sticks out her tongue, “Man, I hope the rest of these events are as easy as this. We have to win.”

 

“We will,” Lance smiles as he walks alongside his siblings. He wants to believe his own words but his thoughts tell him something else and he believes in those more.

 

_ You know you won’t.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments are always appreciated~  
> Hit me up on my [tumblr!](https://rosiekeith.tumblr.com)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the support from the first chapter! Here's part two! Enjoy <3

Lance’s fleeting moments of happiness happened during dinner smushed at an overcrowded table between his best friend and his sister. There’s laughter and jokes and an overall warm feeling that fills Lance as they cheer and eat pizza. Glasses of soda clink together and spill over the place. Nobody is even mad when the liquid spills all over their camp shirt. Instead they burst into laughter, tears streaming down their faces as they chokingly ask for a napkin to wipe it off. 

 

No, the cold feeling doesn’t return until much later when the losing team finally joins in and take the pizza the winning team has graciously offered. At this moment, Chiron comes trolloping into the pavilion and asks the campers to return to their normal tables. Begrudgingly, everybody complies and heads off to their table. After a few minutes the jovial air returns and everybody is enjoying themselves at their table, laughing, singing, talking…

 

Except his table. Kristy and Corben have wasted the maximum amount of energy they could use with their limited social interaction and have already stopped talking, quietly amusing themselves with their dinner. The two of them are still smiling but neither makes an effort to keep up a conversation. Usually Lance fills the silence with his own musings but today it irks him and Lance quietly finishes his dinner before throwing it away and wandering off. 

 

_ They’re not talking to you because you’re an annoyance _ .

 

“Shut up,” Lance tells the voice, “You and I both know that’s not true.”

 

_ What’s your excuse for them? You know there’s more than what meets the eye. _

 

His conscious has a point but Lance decides to ignore it. He heads off into the woods alone, probably a bad idea, but he doesn’t care, at least he has something to defend himself with. He’s shivering again, Lance can feel his teeth clattering as the trees loom him over him. Now that it’s dusk, the forest has a more ominous appearance compared to before. Shadows were everywhere and it was hard to tell whether or not the shadows that move are monsters or  harmless critters. It’s also colder outside compared to the afternoon, making Lance’s whole body shudder as he treks through the path.

 

_ You’re a weak demigod, you’re probably going to die out here. _

 

**_Thanks me._ ** Lance sarcastically replies. **_Always coming in with the uplifting comments._ **

 

He doesn’t stop walking until he reaches the pile of rocks named Zeus’ Fist (unofficially nicknamed the “poop pile” by campers), and stops. It looks like Apollo’s cabin had been using the space to practice archery after the game and had forgotten to clean up before dinner. Lance grins, Shiro is going to murder them, but for now, since he’s all alone and Apollo’s cabin has so graciously set up target practice, why not sneak in a little practice himself? He may not be an archer, but his weapon is similar enough to find the set up useful. Lance takes off his ear cuff which instantly forms into a pistol. He smiles down at it before aiming it at a target, hanging off the branch of a tree. It moves up and down leisurely from a chain that moves it constantly. Other targets are like that too, moving in all sorts of directions in varying speeds. It’s a wicked set up, the Hephaestus cabin must have helped. 

 

Lance takes a deep breath before pulling the trigger.  _ Bam!  _ The bullet hits the bull’s eye, even creating a small hole from where the bullet has passed through. Lance smiles proudly before turning to the next target.  _ Bam! _ Another bull’s eye.  _ Bam! Bam! _ The sound of getting several perfect shots sounds like music to Lance’s ears. Soon enough, he’s hit every target, a perfect small hole in every single one. He releases his hold on his weapon and smiles at his work. 

 

“Not bad,” a voice behind him says, and Lance straightens up. 

 

“They don’t call me the sharpshooter for nothing,” Lance smiles proudly as he brags. 

 

_ Nobody calls you that because you’re unworthy of that name _ .

 

“I never heard anybody call you that before,” the voice responds, “But it suits you. You’d be just as fine of a sniper with bows and arrows as you are with a gun.”

 

Lance blushes, the cold feeling he felt before slowly drifting away. He scratches the back of his head sheepishly, “Why thank you, but, I suck at archery.” He lifts his weapon and looks down at it with a grim expression, “That’s why I use this instead of bows and arrows--

 

“I can teach you,” the voice interrupts, words coming out so rushed that Lance almost thought they said  _ I will beat you _ . There’s a pause from Lance’s shock and whoever was the owner of that voice must have felt nervous because they kept rambling, “I mean, I’m not the greatest at archery, but I think I’m good enough to teach you. O-Or that’s okay if you don’t want to. I’m better at sword fighting anyway.”

 

Lance has been searching for the source but it seems like the person talking is either in his head or a spirit for everywhere he looks he finds nothing but nature. From what he could tell, it belonged to a male, one around his age but with spirits one can never tell. They can look 13 and be thousands of years old. Lance feels kind of bad for the owner of the voice. They seem to be really nervous talking to Lance which baffles him, because he’s just an ordinary demigod. He’s not even the son of an Olympian. 

 

“You’re a swordsman?” Lance asks them, taking a seat on one of the rocks he’s been standing by.

 

“Yeah, I’m not that special. Everybody sword fights,” Lance can hear a tinge of insecurity in the voice, “It’s common to find a demigod that has some sort of sword one way or another. It’s especially common for children of Ares.”

 

“You’re Ares’ kid?” Lance asks.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“You’re a camper aren’t you? You followed me into the woods,” Lance accuses glaring at the direction of the voice.

 

There’s a pause, Lance thought they had ran away until they suddenly respond, “Yes.”

 

“Why?” Lance asks.

 

“It’s not safe to go into the woods alone. Especially after what happened at the game… I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”

 

“W-who are you?” Lance stands up searching for the source of the voice. He was beginning to have a bad feeling about this....

 

“I’d rather not say.”

 

“Reveal yourself right now.” Lance growls lifting his gun up towards the direction of the voice.

 

“Lance, please--

 

“One!” Lance counts off.

 

“--listen to me. I don’t mean any harm. I just don’t want you to know who I am in case--”

 

“Two!”

 

“Lance stop you’re being paranoid--”

 

“Three!” Lance shoots towards the direction of the voice and the bullet clatters against the bark of a tree fifty feet away. Before he has a chance to react, something grabs him and suddenly his back is on the ground with something cool and sharp against his neck. He’s pinned down and Lance struggles beneath whatever is holding him down.

 

“Let me go!” Lance screams.

 

“Not until you promise you won’t kill me!”

 

Lance kicks the person holding him down and they groan, giving Lance an opportunity to tackle them. Now, wrestling with an invisible person is difficult because while they know where everything is, you _ don’t _ . Lance struggles to find the invisible person’s object, he rips and tears at whatever he could hold onto. The two of them wrestle across the forest floor before finally, Lance manages to grab something that feels like hair and slips off a headband. Immediately the person becomes visible again and pushes Lance off of him. They lay on the floor breathless, their chest moving up and down as they stare up at the trees looming above. Pale, long black hair and dark blue eyes, there’s only one person who can fit the description.

 

“Keith?” Lance asks in disbelief. 

 

Keith turns his head towards Lance’s direction and nods. His shirt is completely crumbled, a part of it has been ripped off revealing his abs and  _ damn  _ he has some good abs. He has a few scratch marks from where Lance has clawed him starting to well up into a bright red. He takes a deep breath before saying, “You need to work on your stance.”

 

Now that the initial shock is over, anger wells up in Lance as he stands up, “Yeah thanks for the lesson golden boy.”

 

Keith sighs exasperatedly, “You’re the coldest person I’ve ever met.”

 

Lance scoffs at the comment. Does he not remember what Keith said to him two years ago? “Why thank you, I got it from my mother.”

 

Keith sits up tucking his headband into his pocket and picks up his sword. It retracts back into a keychain and he clips it to his jeans. He incredulously eyes Lance before sitting back up. “You have good aim but you’re close range combat needs work.”

 

Why is this guy insisting on helping him? He doesn’t need any help!

 

“Um...okay, but I don’t want your help.”

 

Keith smiles sadly, “I figured.” He gives Lance a sympathetic look, “But it could be useful.”

 

Lance clenched his fists as he gave Keith a cold stare, “I don’t care.” 

 

Keith nods, "Okay if you insist. I'll leave you alone." He turns to leave but freezes, turning his head to face Lance, "The offer is always there if you want it."

 

"I won't," Lance responds aggressively, watching as Keith heads back into the woods. He wonders for a moment if he's making a mistake. The next day's event is a tournament and his combat skills are weak compared to several other trained fighters. He already knows that his siblings will be choosing him to be the representative of their cabin, whether because they're too lazy or because they truly believe he's the strongest is another story. He can't let them down, and he personally doesn't want to do work for the next month. Keith could give him some pointers that could actually be helpful, especially since he'll most likely be the representative for the Ares cabin.

 

"Keith," Lance calls out tentatively. He doesn't think Keith can hear him but to his surprise a figure reappears in the clearing.

 

"Yes?"

 

"I--" Lance opens his mouth to speak but immediately changes his mind, maybe he shouldn't ask for Keith's help. He isn't exactly the nicest person and he might blow him off again like he did before. Besides, who knows if they will actually help him?

 

Lance's hesitation goes on for so long Keith's eyebrows knit together in confusion as he looks up at Lance. He's actually quite attractive, if you dig that rogue bad boy look. His violet eyes sparkle in the light. Lance smiles sheepishly as he shakes his head. "Sorry, nevermind."

 

"Oh, okay," Keith's face falls as if he's disappointed. He turns to leave but then abruptly pauses. He tugs on his keychain and out comes out his sword. Lance gives Keith a confused look. Keith replies, "Wait, something is here."

 

"Um, okay," Lance removes his ear cuff. He steps down the rocks and stands beside Keith. "What are you sensing?"

 

"Just that something feels wrong," Keith's eyes scan the surrounding area. Lance stares at Keith strangely but doesn't question him. He's been on several quests, he's probably better at detecting monsters than Lance ever will be. "There." Keith points his free hand to a shadow on there left, "That's not a natural shadow."

 

Lance squints at the shadow. It's in between two trees and at first glance it looks simply like the shadow of a tree but it's much broader. Lance turns to Keith and asks, "What do we do?"

 

"Fight it."

 

Lance narrows his eyes, "...but shouldn't we know what it is first?"

 

Keith sighs exasperatedly, " _ Obviously _ , we need to draw it out of hiding first."

 

"Would've been nice if you said that first," Lance grumbles, "Got a plan?"

 

Keith shrugs his sword almost jabbing the ground from the gesture, "Throw a rock at the shadow?"

 

Lance scoffs, "Seriously?"

 

"Yeah?" Keith kicks a stray stone over to Lance, "Throw a rock at the shadow."

 

"Me?!" Lance responds as he kicks the stone back to Keith, "Nuh uh Mullet Head, this was your idea, you do it."

 

"What?! I'm carrying a sword and I need my hand free incase I need my shield!"

 

"Well fuck your shield! I am not gonna get killed over your stupid plans!"

 

"Then got anything better genius?" Keith growls as he turns to Lance. His eyes may be a dark blue but in the moment they look almost red. 

 

Lance sighs, " _ No _ ."

 

"Exactly," Keith nudges the stone towards Lance with his foot, "Throw it at the shadow." 

 

“Fine,” Lance grumbles as he bends down to pick up the stone, “But you better guard me in case that thing just jumps out--”

 

“You can count on me,” Keith promises as he raises his sword in a defensive position. He holds out his other arm and twists a ring on it. Immediately a contraction begins to spring out of the ring and form until a shield is out. Lance’s jaw almost drops at the shield. It’s a beautiful bronze shield with an image of three heroes carved across it.  _ The golden trio _ . The infamous three demigods of the decade, of course Keith would have them on his shield, he’s one of them. Despite the jealous churn it gives Lance, he continues the awe the shield until Keith gives him an incredulous glare. “Are you going to throw the rock or not?” Keith protests.

 

“Right, right,” Lance flushes as he positions himself to throw the rock. Being a baseball player before coming to camp has given Lance the current advantage of being an excellent thrower. Lance goes through the motions as if he was nine again getting ready to pitch a fastball to an unsuspecting bater. Lance swings his hand and tosses the rock towards the direction of the shadow. Before the rock could fly in between the two trees, the shadow lashes out into the clearing. The sudden attack makes Lance jump back as he reaches for his pistols. At the same moment, Keith steps forward and blocks the creature’s big paw, almost the size of Keith with his shield. The son of Ares lunges to jab the monster but he misses and is forced to block again when the paw lashes out. The monster looks like a truck-size mastiff with glowing red eyes and pitch black fur. Lance knows from his lessons that the monster is known other than a hellhound.

 

“Keith!” Lance calls out as the hellhound grabs the shield and tosses Keith as if he’s a ragdoll. He slams into a tree and grunts as he falls onto the floor. Lance skirmishes around the beast and races towards Keith, “Are you okay?!”

 

“I’m fine,” Keith groans as he sits up, his free arm holding onto his side, “Don’t get distracted or you’ll get hurt as well.” 

 

“Okay,” Lance helps Keith up and watches as the hellhound turns towards them, red eyes glowing deviantly. It snarls as it approaches them like a wolf hunting for prey. Lance feels his heart beating nervously. He hasn’t had a run in with an actual monster since he was 12 and accidentally froze a cyclops.  _ Water. _ ..that’s it! Lance looks at Keith before looking down at his pistol in his hand, an idea formulating in his head.

 

“Keith,” Lance whispers, “Distract the hellhound.”

 

Keith gives Lance a skeptic look before turning back to the hellhound, “Because…?”

 

“Trust me.”

 

“Alright,” Keith replies as he lifts his sword, “I’ll trust you. Whatever plan you have, this better work.”

 

Lance winks flirtatiously, “Oh I hope so too.” As Keith charges the hellhound Lance runs in the other direction. The hellhound whips towards the direction of Lance but Keith catches the monster’s attention by screaming at it taunting insults.

 

“Look this way you jumbo-size dog!” Keith calls out, making the hellhound whirl and try to knock Keith off his feet by pounding towards him. Lance reaches into his backpack, hoping that what he wants is still in there. Sure enough, there’s a water bottle and Lance smiles as he twists off the cap and pours a drop onto his hand, as soon as it touches his hand, it freezes, turning into a small bullet-sized icicle. Lance takes the bullet and loads it into his gun. 

 

“Lance!” Keith calls out and Lance looks up to find Keith pinned to the ground, holding up his sword against the paw of the beast trying to crush him underneath. The only thing stopping Keith from turning into demigod squash is that sword Keith is holding up, but his strength could only hold him up for so long. Lance runs down the clearing until he’s in front of the beast.

 

“Hey you big fat dopey dog!” Lance calls out, “I’m a better chew toy than he will ever be!”

 

The hellhound looks up, removing his paw from Keith and allowing the demigod to escape quietly. The hellhound tilts its head at it peers curiously at lance, nose sniffing the air as if it will tell the hellhound whether Lance is serious or not. Suddenly the hellhound growls and charges at Lance. Lance takes a deep breath as he takes aim at the hellhound. He had one shot, if he misses, he was demigod chow. He takes a deep breath, centering all of his focus on the exact spot he wants to hit. He feels the ice melting in the pistol and hopes that it’s melted enough by the time Lance has to take a shot. 

 

_ The chances are low, you’ll probably miss _ .  **_Yeah? Well that’s a chance I’m willing to take_ ** .

 

He pulls the trigger and time slows down as the bullet comes out. It breaks apart as water always does and spreads across the hellhound’s face. Lance steps forward and wills the water to freeze again. As the water splashes the hellhound, it solidifies encasing the hellhound in an ice block. Keith, still slightly dazed from the assault, picks up his sword and jabs the paw poking out of the block, sending the hellhound into golden dust. Lance slumps forward and Keith catches him, laying him down on the rocks by them. Lance laughs in disbelief.

 

“I can’t believe it,” Lance grins, “I froze a hellhound.”

 

“You did a great job,” Keith smiles down at Lance.

 

Lance cocks his head and raises his hand, “We make a good team.”

 

Keith smiles as he takes the hand and helps him up, “Yeah we, do.”

 

\--

Lance heads back to the cabin, feeling like he’s walking on clouds. He probably looks ridiculously happy for being jumped by a hellhound but it doesn’t matter. He just spent an entire afternoon and he surprisingly didn’t shoot the guy. He even agreed to take some lessons with Keith to improve some of his combat skills.

 

When he enters his cabin, his siblings give him a skeptical look which he passes off as still being jittery from the big win. Kristy gives Lance a knowing look but turns back to her phone deciding that she’ll ask later. She teasingly reminds Lance to rest well because of the 1v1 battle the next day and Lance plops onto his bed groaning an annoyed “Yes” before settling for the night. He’s almost asleep when a voice whispers out to him. 

 

_ Do you really think Keith is going to help you? Don’t you remember what happened two years ago?  _

 

Lance turns in his sheets as if that will get the voice to go away. The coldness has returned and he shivers in his blanket.

 

_ Even if he does help you, do you really think it’s going to actually work? You’re one of the weakest fighters, you know you’ll be eliminated in the first round.  _

 

**_Then what am I supposed to do?_ **

 

_ Don’t go. _

 

**_But what am I supposed to tell Keith?_ **

_ I think we both know he doesn’t really care either way _ .

 

That’s how Lance finds himself the next morning. Walking towards the sword arena while rehearsing what he’s going to tell Keith over and over again.

 

“Sorry Keith, I’m not feeling too well. Sorry, Keith, I’m not feeling too well,” Lance recites as he walks down towards the direction Keith had promised they’ll meet, “Sorry Keith, I’m not feeling too well.” Lance spots Keith waiting for him right where he said he’d be. Lance’s steps begin to quicken as he approaches him. Keith has his hair pulled back into a ponytail.The sleeves of his shirt are pulled up, revealing his muscular arms. He’s sparring with Shiro, who is also with a sword, which Lance finds strange since, after the infamous quest, Shiro used his arm more often as a weapon. The two evenly matched, whenever one tried to strike the other parried and neither could manage to knock the sword out of their death-like grips. Lance sits down on a bench next to them and watches them fight.

 

_ See? You will never be at their level. _

 

Lance rests his chin and sighs as he watches them for a good ten minutes. Suddenly, Keith lashes out and Shiro steps aside instead of parrying. Before Keith could stand up, the tip of Shiro’s sword is at Keith’s neck.

 

“Uncle,” Keith says with his hand raised in defense.

 

Shiro sheaths his sword away and holds out his hand to Keith, “You’re too easy to beat after a while, Keith. Skill alone isn’t enough, you need to have a strategy before your opponent finds your weaknesses.”

 

Keith sheaths his sword as well, instead of it transforming back into it’s keychain, it remains by his side, sword protected by a leather covering. In the sunlight, there are beads of sweat all over Keith’s face. He takes Shiro’s hand and lets himself be pulled up by his best friend. “Thanks for the tip, Shiro.”

 

“No problem, good luck later today.”

 

“Thanks,” Keith replies as he takes a drink from his water bottle and wipes the sweat off his sweat with his shirt, revealing his abs. Two days in a row, Lance is blessed with those beautifully toned abs of Keith. He shakes his head, erasing the thought. He’s not here to ogle at Keith. Lance approaches Keith who immediately notices him. The son of Ares lights up as he sets down his drink, “Ready to practice?” Keith asks.

 

“Ah, actually, I’m not feeling too well…” Lance replies as he turns around, “Sorry but I’ll have to ca--

 

“Oh no you don’t,” Keith grabs the back of Lance’s collar and drags him back, “C’mon I want to show you something that will help you at tonight’s tournament.”

 

Lance gulps, “N-no, there’s no need!”

 

“I insist,” Keith replies as he drags Lance to where he had just dueled Shiro, “You want to at least make it past the first round right?”

 

Lance grumbles knowing that Keith is right. Keith lets go of his shirt and returns to where he had just been before. “Draw your weapons.”

 

Lance takes off his ear cuff, letting it transform into his pistol. He takes off the other cuff and combines his two pistols until he has a bigger gun in his arms. It’s big enough that he can carry it with one hand with some effort, but it feels more comfortable when he supports the other end with his other hand; his aiming is also more accurate. Keith smiles at Lance’s weapon, “Impressive.”

 

Lance smiles as he lifts it up and aims at a tree in the distance. He shifts his feet and turns towards Keith, the butt of the gun facing him, “She is right? She can transform into just about any ammunition, but I prefer this setting.”

 

Keith takes out his sword and taps Lance’s gun with it, “In a 1v1 your gun will work a lot better if you can put distance between the you and your opponent, but that’s going to be hard when most people have closed-ranged weapons. Got any magic items?”Lance shakes his head. Keith opens up his pack and takes out a dagger. He gives it to Lance, “Well you do now.”

 

“A knife?” Lance asks. 

 

Keith nods as he raises his sword, “Take it out and rub your thumb over the emblem.”

 

“Uh, okay,” Lance says as he looks down at the dagger. There’s a strange symbol, almost oval like except it breaks off at the bottom. He rubs his thumb over it. Immediately the dagger hums in Lance’s arms before expanding into a sword. Lance gasps.

 

“Family heirloom,” Keith explains, “I’ve had this for several years.”

 

Lance blinks, “I-I don’t deserve this, I should give it back--

 

“There’s no need,” Keith raises his hand, “You can keep it for today’s tournament. Give it back to me after.”

 

“Wow,” Lance is flabbergasted, that he’s not sure what to say, “Thank you.”

 

“Alright I will teach you some basics,” Keith raises his sword and shifts his left foot behind him. “You think you can handle it?”

 

Lance smiles as he mirrors Keith. He’s already had some lessons before, so a quick refresher couldn’t hurt right?

 

Keith smiles back, “I assume you already know some things so I will just walk you through this. Shiro?!”

 

The counselor, who had just finished sparring with another camper turns around and calls out, “Yes?”

 

“Watch over this spar.”

 

“We’re sparring?” Lance sputters. He didn’t mind getting a few tips but versing one of the best swordsmen at camp at his current level? He’d rather be that hellhound’s chew toy than get his ass kicked by Keith. 

 

“Of course, what did you think we’d be doing?” Keith waves him off, “We’ll go slow so Shiro can tell you everything you’re doing wrong, right Shiro?”

 

Shiro nods, “Don’t worry Lance, I won’t insult you unlike  _ this one _ ,” he glares at Keith. 

 

Keith ignores that comment and raises his sword, waiting for Shiro’s signal.

 

“Go.”

 

Before Lance could even react, Keith knocks his sword out of his hand and it flies across the arena. Lance stares agape at where his weapon has fallen while Shiro explains everything Lance is doing wrong.

 

“You need to parry or else your opponent will knock it out of you. Try again.”

 

Lance retrieves the stupid sword and repeats it, following Shiro’s instruction. They repeat this routine. Lance simultaneously getting his ass kicked by Keith and the two of them giving pointers along the way. They definitely helped, but Lance isn’t exactly getting the point of learning all of this all at the last minute. The tournament will be in the evening, and he’ll be versing more experienced sword fighters at that event. The lessons are basically useless. Finally, Lance collapses from exhaustion. His entire body is drenched in sweat as he lies on the pavement wanting to take a ten-year-old nap. 

 

“Are you alright?” Shiro asks as he holds out his hand to Lance, “Did we push you too hard?”

 

“Just peachy,” Lance groans as he lets Shiro help him up, “No I’m just tired.”

 

Shiro turns to Keith, “I think that’s enough for today, right Keith?”

 

Keith nods. He is also drenched in sweat, his long dark hair sticking to his face, “I think we’re good.”

 

Annoyance wells up in Lance and he turns to Keith, “What was this even for? This isn’t going to help me today at all!”

 

“It’s not supposed to,” Keith replies bluntly as his sword shrinks into it’s keychain. “This is something long-term, it’ll take days for there to be major improvement.”

 

"We'll be doing this more often?!" Lance whines, "This was a total bust! I can't improve over time!"

 

"Whoa there," Shiro steps in, placing a hand on Lance's shoulder, "You seem a little uneasy are you alright Lance?"

 

Lance blinks with uncertainty, "Uh... yeah, yeah, sorry..."

 

Shiro smiles, patting Lance's back, "Alright, I think you just need some morale boost. You have the talent as is Lance, you just need to work some more."

 

"Practice makes perfect," Keith supplies, "Besides, nobody talented goes far without hard work."

 

_ They're wasting your time. You should be practicing what you're actually good at for the tournament. _

 

"Right," Lance says as he retracts the sword back into a dagger. He gives it back to Keith who looks at him with uncertainty, "Thanks again, but you should keep it. Family heirloom right?"

 

"It's all I have left of my mother."

 

"All the more reason I'm undeserving of it," Lance winks. Keith takes the dagger and sheaths it into it's little pouch, "Good luck Keith."

 

"Good luck Lance."

 

Lance spends the rest of his afternoon before the tournament with the Apollo cabin, practicing his aiming. While hanging out with them, he learns of who he will likely be versing at the tournament. The rule for the 1v1, was that each cabin had to send in one demigod, their strongest or best in battle to represent each cabin. Each round was an elimination round and the winner for each battle will move up until there's only one undefeated champion left. Lance was the representative for his cabin, and Keith was obviously going to be one for his. Hunk is the representative for Demeter’s cabin. While Hunk is a formidable opponent, Lance had a better chance of defeating him compared to Keith. Another hard opponent to beat would be Matt Holt, the senior camper of the Hephaestus cabin. Finally, there was Lotor from the Hecate Cabin, and while he may seem like a harmless guy, he had a bunch of nasty tricks up his sleeve. One had to be just as clever and quick as him to be able to defeat him. 

 

Those would be the toughest people to beat, hopefully, he’d have somebody a little easier for the first round. He doubted he had the skill to defeat the others and make it to further rounds. 

 

_ Who are you kidding? You won’t even beat the first person because you’re no fighter.  _

 

Lance freezes. Right. He isn’t a fighter. The first real fight he has ever had was just the day before and he would have died if Keith wasn’t there. Anybody could defeat Lance easily. When the horns signalling lunch are blown, Lance and the others gather back to the pavilion. As he approaches his table, he feels a soothing hand run up and down his forearm and Lance turns to face his sister Kristy. 

 

“You’re alright,” she assures him. He can feel the charm speak she’s using in her words, “You’re going to be great today, no matter how far you go.” 

 

Lance smiles, already feeling the tension in his body fade away, “Thank you Kristy, I appreciate it.”

 

\--

 

The horns blare across camp, indicating that is time to get ready for the tournament. Lance stands up from his table, and averts his eyes from his siblings. **_Don’t fail them_ ** . Lance takes his plate and dumps it by the trash before walking towards the direction of the arena.

 

A hand grabs his wrist and Lance turns around to find Keith staring at him with those intense violet eyes. Lance glares at the son of Ares.

 

“What do you want?” he asks. 

 

Keith places something in Lance’s hand, “You better survive your battles, not until you have to verse me.”

 

Lance gives him a puzzled look, “Keith, what?”

 

Keith smiles as he closes Lance’s hand, his fingers wrapping around the object given to him, “For luck.” He turns around and joins his cabin, walking to the arena. Lance stares at Keith for a few seconds, wondering what on earth had just happened before remembering the object in his hand. Lance looks down at it. It’s the dagger that Keith had given him to train with this morning, but he had given it back, why did Keith lend him it again?

 

“Hey!” Lance calls out to Keith, “I don’t want your stupid knife!”

 

But Keith ignores him and Lance sighs, shoving the dagger into his back pocket before heading off to the arena. Might as well keep it if Keith entrusted him with it. 

 

The arena is already starting to fill with spectators, demigods that weren't chosen to compete excitedly gathering with their siblings to cheer on their cabin. Lance, along with the other competitors stay on the ground, assembling their weapons and warming up for their fights. Lance studies all of his opponents, sizing up each and every single one of them and comparing himself to them.

 

The goal was to knock out all weapons and magic items out of their opponent’s hand, obviously, those with long range weapons like Lance’s had an advantage. However, the arena has no terrain and is openly giving them a disadvantage. Perhaps the knife was a good idea. He could use it as a last resort if needed. Especially since he has no magic items. 

 

Hunk approaches him. He’s already dressed in full battle armor, with his ax machine gun strapped to his back. He smiles at Lance and greets him with a hug.

 

“What are you doing here man?” Lance asks.

 

“Just here to wish you luck man,” Hunk claps Lance’s back, “The competition is tough this year.”

 

“Tell me about it,” Lance sighs as he eyes Matt pass his bouncy ball between his hands back and forth. Any moment now that ball will transform into a deadly spear that reflects any magic attacks inflicted on it. Anybody versing Matt is screwed.

 

“But I know you will pull through,” Hunk reassures his best friend, “You’re a strong demigod, you’ll definitely make it past the first two rounds. 

 

Lance snorts and pats Hunk’s back.  **_I doubt that_ ** . “Thanks man, good luck to you too.”

 

Hunk winks, “No problemo, I’ll be rooting for you!”

 

“Same here!” Lance calls out.

 

After his conversation with Hunk, Lance puts on his armor and lines up with the other competitors to start the battle. Shiro announces who will be versing who in each round. The first couple of rounds were quite predictable. Weaker demigods versed stronger demigods and the stronger demigods won. They were quite short, the longest lasting a minute because the son of Hermes really held up against Lotor’s tricks. It’s hard to trick a trickster as you may say. 

 

“--and Lance from the Khione cabin.”

 

Lance perks up at Shiro’s words and quickly realizes that it is his turn. Lance steps out into the arena, hefting his gun as he looks at his opponent. Oh no. This was already going to be a challenge. He’s versing somebody from the Apollo cabin. That means the fastest sniper would win. Lance finds himself panicking as he aims his weapon at the archer who already has an arrow aimed at him. He’s toast unless he acts fast. 

 

He barely registers the horn and the arrow whizzing past him as Lance jumps to the side. Electricity sparks up from where the arrow had hit and the wave reaches Lance, making him his muscle spazz out. He somehow manages to hold onto his weapon and recover quickly enough to dodge the next hit, this time taking an extra step away to avoiding the electric shock. The hasty movements causes Lance to stumble and fall backward, hitting the ground on his back. He groans in pain as he rolls away from another arrow. This time, the arrow lets out a cloud of smoke, blocking Lance’s view. Lance immediately holds hi breath pulling himself on his feet as he blindly shoots into the cloud. He hears the bullets bounce off the ground and echo across the arena. Lance stands still looking for a way to find the Apollo kid. Suddenly in the corner of his eye spots the guy and Lance jumps back and swings his legs, knocking the Apollo kid off his feet. Trying to break his fall, demigod drops his weapon and lands on the ground groaning in pain. The gong is hit, and Shiro announces Lance as the winner. 

 

It all happened so fast that Lance had barely registered it. He breathes heavily as he looks around him, seeing the cheering crowd, and the Apollo cabin giving Lance dirty looks. He blinks confusedly as he turns to Shiro.

 

“I won?” he asks.

 

Shiro nods a sincere smile on his smile, “Congratulations Lance, you’re moving up to the next round.”

 

Lance smiles, his heart racing and joy. He holds back the urge to run around the arena and jump screaming at the top of his lungs. He couldn’t believe it! He actually won! Lance walks off the arena beaming as Hunk comes up to Lance to congratulate him with a clap on his back and a bone-crushing hug. 

 

“See? I knew you could do it!” Hunk cheers guiding Lance towards the benches, “C’mon, you should rest before your next battle, you’re going to need it.”

 

Lance clings onto Hunk excitedly like a schoolgirl, “Oh my gods Hunk, I  _ won _ .”

 

“I know,” Hunk replies, “You did an amazing job.”

 

_ He’s lying. You won by pure luck _ . 

 

Lance can’t stop himself from beaming as he happily accepts the bottle of water given to him. Keith has his battle right after Lance so he doesn’t congratulate Lance, but before the battle commences, the two of them lock eyes and Keith gives him a thumbs up. As expected, the battle is quick and short, Keith disarms his opponent, another swordsman in a matter of seconds. All what Keith does is lunges and then pushes it out of the poor guy’s grasp. The demigod stares agape at his weapon on the floor as Keith sheaths his away, not a single trace of emotion on his face.

 

“And the round goes to Keith,” Shiro announces, a proud smile written across his face as he watches the son of Ares walk off the arena as if it were some ordinary thing. As if he didn’t even take five seconds to battle somebody and  _ win _ . Lance is awestruck as Keith approaches him, not even a bead of sweat is on the guy. He picks up a water bottle and takes a sip, eyes falling onto Lance briefly. He smiles softly, raising his bottle of water up like a toast, “Good job.”

 

Lance finds his breath taken away. There’s something about the way Keith looks at him, the lighting of the setting sun creating a small halo around him that makes it suddenly harder for him to breathe. Lance shakes his head, erasing the thoughts floating in his head and smiles back at Keith, “Thanks, you didn’t do too bad yourself.”

 

Keith nods as he continues drinking from his bottle. A couple more battles happen before the second round starts. Lance, not expecting to be called down first hardly misses his name being called down by Allura.

 

“--and from the Hephaestus cabin we have Matt.”

 

Lance’s eyes widen as he turns to Hunk. He’s toast. Matt has one of the best weapons in the entire camp and is an excellent fighter on top of that. He doesn’t have a chance. As Lance steps forward a hand grabs his forearm and Lance turns around to find himself face to face with Keith. He’s not looking at Lance, he’s looking straight at Matt with a stoic expression.

 

“His spear is magical, it absorbs any energy that hits its point and reflects it back. Be careful.” 

 

“Thanks,” Lance responds before entering the arena.

 

Matt, the senior camper of the Hephaestus cabin is an average-height boy that is easily identified with the scar he has on his left cheek that was from an accident when he was young. His weapon of choice: a spear that springs from a ball when bounced off of a surface. It doesn’t look like much at first glance but he’s quick and agile. Even having a long-range weapon puts Lance in a risky position. 

 

Lance takes aim, locking his target onto Matt’s wrist. The greatest chance he has of winning is if he acts fast. Lance takes a deep breath, focusing all of his concentration onto hitting the spot he wants to.

 

The sound of the gong rings through the arena just as Lance fires. For a moment, it looks like he is going to have the advantage when suddenly, Matt steps back and blocks the hit with the tip of his spear. The spear reflects the bullet back towards Lance and he rolls over. He barely has time to react before the spear jabs the ground right where he had laid. Lance stands up on his feet just as the spear whacks him in the stomach and Lance groans in pain as he stumbles backward. He fires towards the direction of Matt is, but he knows he missed by a long shot. Matt spins his spear and hits Lance on the back. Lance lifts up his weapon and aims at the demigod but Matt is quick: he lunges and the spear nudges the weapon away from his body. As Lance fires, the bullet unceremoniously hits the pavement. Before Lance can fire again, the tip of the spear knocks Lance’s chest, forcing him to stumble back. 

 

If he’s to be completely honest with himself, he’s surprised he even made it this far. At least he lasted more than two seconds before that ridiculous spear beaten the crap out of him. It’s no use. He can’t freeze Matt because that spear will only reflect it back. He doesn’t have enough time to aim again before the spear takes his weapon out. It’s over.

 

As Matt lunges towards Lance’s arm, a tiny voice shouts in head.

 

_ You have something else you idiot! Use it! _

 

And suddenly, a light bulb goes off in Lance’s mind. It’s a stupid idea, he immediately concludes, but it’s his best option to win. Lance grabs the tip of the spear and brings the owner closer to him until his mouth is close to the demigod’s ear. 

 

Everything feels quiet around him, like the world has suddenly slowed down except for Lance as he leans in to Matt. He musters all of his energy into his voice as he whispers, “You’re not powerful enough to even defeat the son of a minor goddess.”

 

He leans back, to avoid Matt trying to break free, but the damage has already been done. Matt is frozen in place and blinks confusedly before glancing down at his spear, “I am…?”

 

Lance steps forward and smiles sympathetically as he plucks the spear out of Matt’s grasp, “Well, you just lost, but it was a close one.”

 

Matt shakes his head, the spell wearing off, “What are you talking about-- hey! That’s my spear!”

 

The gong has already bonged and the crows has already cheered in congratulation of Lance’s victory. Lance smiles as he hands the spear back, “Nice spear man.”

 

Matt takes the spear and sighs, “I can’t believe it, my spear was just plucked out of my own hands…” He laughs as he clamps Lance’s back, “That was awesome, you really put up a fight there. I wish you the best of luck in your next round.”

 

Lance blushes and scratches the back of his neck, “Thanks.”

 

As he steps off the arena, Hunk lifts him up in the air and crushes his bones. 

 

“That was amazing!” Hunk beamed, “I really thought you were going to get eliminated for a second there until you suddenly turned the tables! The whole arena is shook!”

 

Lance grunts, feeling the air in his lungs escape him, “Can’t breathe big guy.”

 

“Oh, sorry!” Hunk laughs as he releases Lance, “I got a little excited there…”

 

Lance smiles, “I know, Hunk. Thanks for the support.”

 

“So, are you ready to verse Keith next round?” Hunk asks, “That’s going to be a really interesting round.”

 

Lance freezes, “I’m...versing Keith next?”

“Well, either him or Lotor,” Hunk points at the arena at the current battle going on. Keith and Lotor are in the middle of a vicious fight, “But I’m rooting for Keith. Unless you want to verse Lotor…”

 

Lance takes a step forward and watches the two battle. The two clash. Whatever attack one has, the other counters in a flurry. Keith attacks more feverently than Lotor, but Lotor has a strong defense. Lotor watches, Keith’s every moment from the way he slashes to his weak points, but keith is well adapted, he’s quick to defend himself when Lotor strikes. It’s a fight so mesmerising, Lance can’t bring himself to look away.

 

He’s _ versing _ whoever wins this. 

 

_ You’re going to get annihilated the moment the battle starts.  _

 

Lance finds himself shaking and he wants to look away but he can’t. They’re both that gravitating. Especially Keith. As Lotor swings his sword, Keith slides down from under and slashes at Lotor’s ankles. Lotor steps aside, making Keith narrowly miss. 

 

_ You got to the top by pure luck Lance, and now look at you, about to be humiliated in front of the entire camp by whoever wins this. Everybody's gonna know how pathetic you really are. _

 

Lance’s teeth clatter as he shivers. He’s feeling cold all of a sudden. In an effort to warm himself up Lance rubs his arms.

 

Shit, shit, shit. 

 

Lotor strikes at keith once again and this time he succeeds in his attack. Keith stumbles backward and falls on his back. Lotor swings his sword down towards Keith, Lance winces knowing that it’s over for Keith. There was no way he could--

 

In a flash, Keith swings his sword upward, blocking Lotor’s. The two of them stare each other down, gritting their teeth as they fight for the upper hand. Then, Keith swings his feet and knocks Lotor down. Keith jumps up and presses the hilt of his sword towards Lotor. Before Lotor ca react, Keith kicks Lotor’s weapon out of his hand.

 

There’s a gong. The crowd starts to cheer, but just like Lance the two of them are frozen as they stare at each other. Lance can see Keith drenched in sweat, little beads of it dotting his face as he retracts his sword. Keith holds out his hand.

 

“Good game,” Keith says with a blank face.

Lotor’s shocked expression shifts into a crooked smile as he takes the offered hand, “You’re still the best.”

 

Keith smiles back, “You almost got me there. I have to keep an eye on you.”

 

Lotor chuckles, “You know it.”

 

Keith pulls Lotor up and the two shake hands before parting. Keith turns to Lance, violet eyes focusing on him. The afternoon sky compliments the son of Ares perfectly: fiery and extraordinary, just like him. 

 

Lance feels his heart beating rapidly the cold air consuming him. He knows it’s from these mixed feelings he has, feelings that he’s starting to realize what they are. 

 

He’s versing Keith. His doom is certain. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always appreciated <3
> 
> Feel free to come and chat with me on [tumblr!](https://rosiekeith.tumblr.com) I'm always looking for a new friend to talk to :)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is the conclusion! Enjoy!

Lance had always admired Keith from afar. He, along with the other Golden demigods seemed untouchable, like some sort of ethereal being. They weren’t gods, they were too human to be gods, but something in between. Whenever he looked at one, he always saw some sort of golden hue around them. Allura and Shiro’s were strong, but Keith’s, his golden aura shined brighter than the two combined. Until it stopped. 

 

Keith had been at the camp longer than Lance, and yet the son of Ares was never claimed. Not until the same night Lance was claimed. Lance remembered Coran saying that it was common for more than one demigod to be claimed at once, but even he found it strange that Ares had waited until Lance’s day came for Keith to be claimed. 

 

“I sense that the two of you have something special, the Fates are putting you together for some reason,” he had said.

 

Coran was the son of Apollo, God of Prophecies, Lance had no choice but to believe him. Then again the twelve year old boy always believed in everything the people at camp told him. 

 

But even back then Keith shined like a beacon. He was the baby of the entire camp arriving at camp holding Allura and Shiro’s hands with only a knife strapped to his belt and a hazy memory of his entire life. Even back then, everybody stared at the little boy in awe, like he was destined for greatness. 

 

Lance was aware of this, and as much as he wanted to befriend this so called demigod he was fated with, he lacked the courage. But it didn’t matter, two weeks after they were claimed, Shiro was granted a quest and had selected Keith, along with Allura, to come with him. 

 

And when Keith came back, he wasn’t the same. He was more aloof, more rigid, and frequently got into fights with other demigods. His light still remained to shine, his reputation from his part in the quest kept it going, but it was fading, while Allura’s and Shiro’s grew brighter.

 

Keith kept to himself, he rarely interacted with anybody outside of the two friends he’s been with since the beginning. He often hung out by the arena, practicing with his sword. There were rumors he would often head off into the woods alone to fight whatever would dare attack him in there. 

 

It was during their last week of summer, Keith was sitting on the porch of the infirmary. He looked like he needed some comfort. When Lance saw him, he thought that this was the perfect opportunity for him to introduce himself, for him to finally befriend Keith. He sat down next to Keith on the porch. The boy said nothing but he did give Lance a curious look. Lance held out his hand and offered the boy a smile. Keith eyed the hand, as if it could betray him at any moment.

 

“Lance,” he finally said, “What are you doing here?”

 

“You looked like you needed _ a hand _ ,” Lance joked as he offered his hand again. Keith tilted his head and gave him a puzzled look. Lance flushed, “Nevermind, bad joke. You just look like you need some comfort.”

 

“Oh,” Keith replied looking down at the hand. This time he took it, intertwining their fingers. Even back then, Keith’s hands were calloused, but they still felt warm, warmer than anything Lance has ever held. Not even his step-mother’s hugs were this warm, “Your hands are cold,” Keith commented. 

 

“Oh,” Lance blushed. He knew that being the son of Khione, he had a habit of emitting coldness around him. It didn’t help that he could shoot shards of ice from thin air with just the snap of his fingers, “Sorry.”

 

They don’t let go of hands. Instead they sat there quietly, the distant sound of crickets chirping, the cackling of the fire inside the building. By the lake, Lance could hear the satyrs and nymphs throwing a party, their laughter booming across the camp. 

 

Lance will never forget the sounds he heard during those brief minutes of silence, those minutes where he thought the two of them were going somewhere.

 

“During the quest,” Keith began, “We were at one point surrounded by an army of monsters. We fought as hard as we could but…Shiro lost an arm.”

 

Everybody in the camp already knew about the tragedy that had befallen on the son of Zeus. Losing an appendage was something not even ambrosia could heal. Shiro had arrived to camp, with his arm bandaged up, and while the nurses had successfully been able to prevent infection, there was nothing they can do about the lost arm. 

 

But Lance didn’t say that, instead he patted Keith’s back, “It’s not your fault.”

 

Keith shook his head, “It  _ is _ my fault Lance. The monster who took his arm, it was after  _ me _ . And now, he’s sick again...he’s dying Lance. And there’s nothing that can be done!”

 

“Keith… it’s okay, we’ll get through this--

 

“You weren’t there,” Keith interrupted letting go of Lance’s hand, “You weren’t there while Shiro laid unconscious in the middle of the field. When Allura had to carry him, with only I to protect the two of them as we ran to a hiding spot. You don’t understand how important they are to me.”

 

“Chill out, I wasn’t--

 

Keith stood up and raised his voice, “Leave.”

 

Lance stood up, heart skipping a beat, “I didn’t mean to--

 

Keith turned to Lance, violet eyes darkening as he clenches his fist and raises it, “I said,  _ leave _ .”

 

Lance ended up with a black eye and a broken heart that night. From then on, the shining beacon Keith was, had gone dark and Lance had despised Keith ever since. 

 

And yet, while watching Keith fight Lotor, that glow had returned. 

 

Lance is baffled by it. He hasn’t seen it since that night, and yet it shimmers brighter than he remembers. But instead of it being welcoming, it’s intimidating. 

 

But that’s because he’s about to verse Keith. Keith, the best swordsmen at camp, the guy who just defeated another strong demigod. 

 

Yeah, he’s  _ screwed _ . And the voice inside his head is no help. He shivers at the crude jeers they make at him as he stares at Keith. 

 

Keith approaches him, a small relieved smile on his face. Lance’s eyes widen when Keith places a hand on his shoulder.

 

“We did it,” Keith says, “I’ll see you next round.”

 

Lance opens his mouth in confusion. Why is he so happy that they are going to verse each other next? So that Keith can kick his ass? 

 

Keith starts to head off to get a drink of water but he isn’t able to go far until Lance calls out to him. At the sound of his name, Keith turns around gives Lance a curious look. He lifts a questioning eyebrow, “Yes?”

 

He looks so bright, and Lance feels so cold when he realizes that after this, they’ll probably never talk to each other again. Keith is going to realize just how pathetic Lance really is.

 

_ Yes, exactly, I wonder why he even approached you in the first place. He’s a legend, and you’re a nobody. _

 

Lance swallows. He’s starting to coward out of what he wanted to say originally. Lance reaches out to Keith and curls his fingers around Keith’s wrist. Keith’s eyes widen. The last time they held hands, was the night Lance started to hate Keith. 

 

He’s starting to realize that he may have never hated Keith in the first place. 

 

“Good luck,” Lance musters the best smile he can, despite the fact that he’s in a crappy mood and all he wants to do is curl up in bed and sleep.

 

Keith smiles back, a subtle one that somehow is different from the one before. Perhaps, it’s the way it makes Lance’s cheeks flush, or how when they hold hands, Lance feels warm again and he’s afraid if he lets go he’ll turn into ice. 

 

“You too,” Keith replies, and with that the contact is gone and Keith disappears into the crowd. 

 

Lance’s heart is beating rapidly as he turns around and heads off to the opposite side. He needs a drink of water,  _ stat _ . He feels like he might faint if he doesn’t drink something in the next minute.

 

As he takes a drink of his water, his sister, tugging their annoyed brother behind emerge from the stands. 

 

“You were amazing!” Kristy says as she hugs him, “For a moment there I thought you were going to lose but then you just  _ plucked _ it off of him. Even Corben looked impressed, right?” she nudged Corben’s side, prompting him to speak.

 

“Uh, yeah, that was pretty good,” Corben responds. He places a hand on Lance’s shoulder and gives him a faint smile, “Kristy is proud of you.”

 

“You mean, _ we _ are proud of him, right?” Kristy interjects.

 

Lance’s brother gives their sister a cold glare before turning back to Lance, “When we said you’re the best one out of the three of us, we weren’t kidding.”

 

_ He’s just saying that because Kristy is forcing him to say something nice _ . 

 

Lance blushes and waves his hand, “You guys flatter me.” 

 

“That’s because you’re our cute baby brother,” Kristy pinches Lance’s cheek. She playfully ruffles Lance’s hair before adding, “Well, we should head back to the stands, it looks like your fight is about to start. Good luck.”

 

_ You’re going to disappoint them. You shouldn’t have given them hope. They’ll hate you after this. _

 

Kristy’s blue eyes focus on Lance for a moment as if she’s studying him. Lance looks back at her sister, trying to keep a neutral face. She must have sensed his discomfort because suddenly, she squints her eyes suspiciously, “Are you alright?”

 

“I’m fine,” Lance lies.

 

Kristy points at him, “You’re doing that weird blush-y nervous thing you do when you’re lying, which means you are obviously not fine,” she frowns giving Lance a worried look, “Is this because you’re versing Keith?”

 

“Kind of.”

 

“Because,” Kristy takes both of Lance’s hands forcing him to look at his sister. She smiles lovingly as she adds, “I know the two of you have...  _ history _ .”

 

Lance chuckles at that statement. Since Lance wanted to avoid Keith after getting punched, he returned to his cabin in tears. His siblings had wrapped in a blanket and had comforted him as Corben summoned a block of ice and placed it in a pillowcase before applying to Lance’s eye. Kristy had held Lance’s hand that night, her thumb rubbing soothingly in circles across his skin. 

 

“I’m going to kill him,” Kristy had declared in her fit of rage. 

 

“Don’t,” Corben had advised.

 

“No, I am going to kill the guy for hurting my baby brother,” she snapped. Her voice was forceful and filled with rage and powerful emotion, “If you aren’t going to do anything about it then you’re a shitty older brother. I can’t stand seeing him like this.”

 

Corben recoiled away from Kristy. “Sorry…”

 

“Look at him, the guy made Lance cry,” she had said as she removed the pillowcase from Lance’s eye, “How dare him, the asshole, that dick--”

 

“Enough,” Corben had said as he placed a hand on his enraged sister, “There’s nothing we can do, what happened, happened. Let it go.”

 

Kristy looked up at her brother before looking down. Through Lance’s good eye he was able to see that Kristy was biting her lip, still frustrated. She took a deep breath before nodding, “Okay.” She turned back to Lance and cupped Lance’s face, careful not to touch the bruised area, “Listen to me Lance, avoid the guy, it’s clear that the two of you don’t get along. You were rash to approach him when he’s in such an unstable state…” Lance could feel her putting force into her words but it sounded soft and sweet, like snow. She was using her charm speak on him.

 

He’s having that same feeling from that night as Kristy speaks to him.

 

“It’s been four years since that night. Don’t you think it’s time to let it go?” Kristy smiles as she pats his back, “He probably doesn’t even remember that night.” 

_ She’s right, he doesn’t remember because you’re insignificant in his life.  _

 

Lance nods, “You’re right. Thanks.”

 

“Good luck,” Kristy smiles before turning away, she takes Corben’s arm and drags him back to the stands. 

 

Lance watches their fading figures for a couple seconds before turning around and heading off to the arena. He finds Keith already hanging by the entrance, fidgeting with his magical keychain. As Lance approaches him, Keith turns his attention to Lance.

 

“What?” Lance demands.

 

Keith averts his eyes away, “Nothing, you still have that knife I gave you?”

 

“Yes,” Lance pulls it out to show the son of Ares, “I assume you want it back…?”

 

“Later,” Keith responds, “You’ll need that knife if you’re versing me.”

 

“There’s no point,” Lance sighs as he puts it away, “We both know you’re going to win.”

 

“That may be,” Keith agrees, “But you never know.”

 

Perhaps it was the way he phrased it that made it sound strange. Lance couldn’t comprehend what Keith meant by that.

 

_ It’s a setup, he was only using you so he could have an easy win, and humiliate you in front of everybody. _

 

Lance gives Keith a suspicious glare, “Why?”

 

Keith blinks, “...what?”

 

_ He never cared about you. He’s only here pretending to be nice so you could lower your barriers. So that everybody can laugh at you when you lose to him. Because that’s what you are: a goofball. _

 

“Why did you give this to me?” Lance indicates the dagger that is now strapped to Lance’s hip, “Why are you insisting on ‘helping’ me out when we both know you’re going to kick my ass?”

 

Keith tilts his head, his expression as blank as ever, “What are you talking about?”

 

“This!” Lance raises his voice, “You spend the last four years avoiding me and hating me and out of nowhere you come in and are suddenly so nice. You comfort me when I feel alone, offer me help and you even lend me your stupid knife.  _ Why _ ?”

 

Keith blinks, his eyes wide open as he shakes his head, “Lance, I have no idea what you’re  _ saying _ . I have never hated you.”

 

“What do you mean--”

 

The gong, indicating that their match has started interrupts Lance’s words but neither one draws out their weapon. The two are still facing each other, only a few feet apart as they continue to talk in their heated argument. Was it even an argument? It felt more like a discussion, if it could even be called that. 

 

Lance takes a step forward, “You once punched me in the face, and until yesterday we barely spoke more than a sentence to each other.”

 

“No offense but you were pestering me at a bad time,” Keith responds, “But I never hated you. Not a single time have I ever hated you.” 

 

 _He’s lying and you know this. Everyone hates you and he’s no exception. Besides, why would he not hate you? Look at yourself. You’re pathetic compared to him. You won all your battles by sheer luck while Keith breezed by all of his._ _You don’t deserve to be here and you know you’re going to lose_.

 

Lance feels a chill sweep over him and he shudders. He takes out his weapon and loads it.  _ Just give in now, drop it and let him win. It’ll save you from embarrassment.  _

 

Keith follows suit, his sword gleaming in the afternoon sky. Lance is amazed by how everything about fighting makes Keith look graceful and elegant. How the wind makes his hair blow in the right direction, as if this is a movie and he’s the protagonist entering a battle and Lance is the buffoon only placed as comic relief and about to be ridiculed and laughed at by the audience for how hilariously awful Lance’s fighting is. 

 

“We’re supposed to be fighting,” is Lance’s only response as he takes a step back, giving Keith space. He can feel his skin prickling with frostbite as he lifts his gun. It makes moving painful, but he can bear it. It’ll be over soon anyways. 

 

_ You’re not good enough _ .

 

Lance takes aim as Keith stares at Lance. Weird. Why isn’t Keith moving? If he doesn’t move he’s going to get shot!

 

_ He’s taunting you. He’s going to show everybody how good he is and make a fool out of you. Give up Lance, you know you’re not good enough. Why are you even insisting on carry on anyways? You know how this is going to end. _

 

Lance can feel his hands shaking as he concentrates on hitting the hilt of Keith’s sword. He takes a deep breath, but it comes out more ragged and makes more anxious than before. His heart is pounding in his chest, threatening to come out. And Keith is still standing there looking at Lance, waiting, as if he’s just another target in the woods. If only it was that easy....

 

_ You just love torturing yourself don’t you? Why do you think this is okay? You’re fucking crazy. A pathetic crazy demigod. Just give up you know you’re going to lose. Are you hoping something will change? Cause nobody knows you better than yourself Lance. You’re hoping that perhaps there is a turn of events and that somehow, someway you’re going to win, but you know what happens every time you do this? You fail and you’re disappointed. Why? Because that’s all what you are. A failure. So put your weapon down and give up. In the end you’re a loser either way. _

 

Lance feels tears streaming down his face. They feel as cold as ice as they slide down his cheeks. They burn. Everything burns. And he feels cold. He feels like he could turn into an ice sculpture right then and there. Lance drops to his knees, his weapon clattering onto the ground. All he hears is white noise but somehow his brain registers a collected gasp from the audience. He sobs as his face hits the pavement and more tears flow down his face like rivers. 

 

Why did he think this a good idea? Why did he decide to enter this tournament? Why didn’t Corben or Kristy enter in his stead? They would’ve done a better job than Lance. Why is he such a loser? 

 

As Lance sobs a hand rests on his shoulder. Lance shudders at the touch and snaps his head up. Blue eyes meet the violet ones of the son of Ares. Keith looks down at Lance with a blank expression. The only trace of emotion is the slight crease in his brow showing his concern. 

 

“I can’t verse you,” Lance admits.

 

Keith tilts his head, confusion written across his face, “What?”

 

“I’m not good enough. I’m here by sheer luck, just look at me,” Lance sits up and gestures to himself, “I’m a pathetic and weak demigod.”

 

“Lance, that’s not true. You got here because you have the capability to be here. You’re not weak,” Keith offers a smile as he squeezes Lance’s shoulder, “You’re actually quite strong.” 

 

“Then why are you helping me?”

 

Keith tilts his head and averts his eyes away from Lance for a moment, as if he’s pondering something, “You were there for me when nobody else was that night. And yesterday you looked like you needed some comforting.”

 

Lance sneers as he swats Keith’s hand away. “I don’t need your stupid consoling. You’re heartless.”

 

He must’ve put force into the words because Keith’s expression turned blank and he blinked before shaking his head violently. “Lance, listen to me--”

 

“You think you’re so cool huh?” Lance spat as he pulled himself up. “Oh, look at me I’m Keith the son of Ares and I’m one of the strongest demigods around. I’m so strong that I can trample over anybody I want to!”

 

“Lance!” Keith shouts interrupting Lance. He’s shaking, a stray tear pricking his eye as he looks at Lance. “Stop.”

 

“No.” Lance laughs. “Isn’t this what you wanted? Well?!” Lance raises his voice as he indicates the arena around them, “You’re here,” Lance bends down to pick up his weapon and offers it to Keith, “Just take it.”

 

Keith stares at Lance in shock, “Lance--

 

“Take it!” Lance shouts.

 

“Lance,” Keith takes a cautious step forward, “I’m not going to take your weapon.”

 

Lance lowers his arm and stares at Keith, “Why?”

 

“Because I want to fight you fair and square.”

 

“Bullshit,” Lance spats, tears starting to well up again, “I can’t, I can’t--”

 

He feels himself fall forward again. In the blink of an eye, Keith rushes forward to Lance and holds him, preventing him from falling. 

 

“Yes you can,” Keith responds.

 

“No--”

 

“Lance,” Keith grabs Lance’s face, “Yes  _ you _ can. You’re more than capable of defeating me. You are not weak Lance, look at you. You’re one of our best snipers and you can freeze water and you can convince anybody of anything.” 

His hands feel warm on Lance’s cheek. That’s the first thing that crosses Lance’s mind. The second thing that crosses his mind is Keith’s face, and how it’s beautiful. Even that small smile he’s giving Lance is attractive. Lance stares into Keith’s eyes, waiting to see if he has anything else to say. But there’s silence as the two of them stare each other down. He can feel his cheeks beginning to redden from the awkwardness.

 

 

At the same time, he doesn’t want Keith to pull away. He’s like a fireplace, keeping Lance warm. Their faces lean in closer and Lance lets their lips collide. Just like that Lance feels like he’s engulfed in flames, the ice cold in his system melting away with the feeling of Keith’s lips against his own. Their soft, which is the complete opposite of what Lance had imagined they would feel like and  _ whoa, _ since when have he thought about what Keith’s lips feel like? 

 

Just as quickly as it happened, their kiss comes to an abrupt end. The two demigods gasp for air as they pull apart. Lance pulls their bodies closer and initiates a second kiss. Keith eagerly complies, shifting his arms so that they’re instead wrapping around Lance’s neck. Lance’s grip on Keith’s waist tightens and wow he never imagined how Keith would under his touch would be as exhilarating as it currently feels. 

 

Lance forgets about everything. Their fight, his insecurities, they all wash away and the cold fades away, replaced by a flame inside of him that generates heat. All he thinks about in the moment is the feeling of Keith’s lips against his, his soft skin and how he’s burning in Keith’s arms. 

 

When they finally break away, Keith still lingers close by, his lips tempting Lance to once again kiss them. His eyes are brightly lit and Lance is sure he has the same awestruck look on his face. They look into each other’s eyes and take deep breaths but don’t say anything. Lance’s ears are ringing and everything feels quiet. Like they’re the only two in the moment. Keith blushes and averts his eyes away put doesn’t move. Lance can feel his own face starting to heat up.

 

That’s when Lance finally registers the chaotic cheering the crowd has and Lance is brutally reminded of the fact that he just made out with Keith in front of the entire camp. He can feel his blush spreading to his ears as Lance lets go of Keith and takes a step back.

 

Lance clears his throat, feeling extremely awkward after the events, “So uh…”

 

Keith picks up Lance’s gun and smiles sheepishly, “You dropped your weapon, I won.”

 

Lance smiles back as he takes it, “Shocker.”

  
  


\--

The rest of the games went by fairly quickly. The Ares and Khione Cabins joined forces and breezed through all the events winning every single one of them. Kristy and Corben were happy to not have to do chores for a whole month. 

 

The two cabins had come to the agreement that the two chariot riders should be none other than Keith and Lance. Lance has a suspicion they only did it so that the two of them can spend some alone time together. Not that he’s complaining, he’ll take any opportunity he can to be with Keith. The problem is, neither one of them is good at modifying ordinary chariots so the two of just sort of spent hours one night figuring out what to do which resulted in a lot of fighting, crying (that was mostly Lance but if you ask him it was all Keith), and a sleepless night that resulted in the two demigods getting in trouble the next morning when they were found asleep in the Big House.

 

Eventually they bribed Matt’s little sister Pidge to help them modify the chariot with money and a promise to not let anybody in the Hephaestus cabin know of this agreement. It was the best decision they ever made. Pidge added little rockets to the wheels of the chariot to help boost in case they lost horses. She in addition added several traps and gadgets that while explaining Lance barely could follow through. She even added a little board with buttons to press to trigger every single of the modifications. 

 

Keith hands Lance the reins of the horses, “Ready?” he asks.

 

Lance nods, “As ready as I’ll ever be.” 

 

They had earlier made the agreement that Keith should defend the chariot from attackers while Lance drove the chariot. Lance doesn’t mind, he knew that Keith is the best fighter out of all the chariot riders racing. In fact, he’s glad that he’s doing the driving, Keith is too reckless and would probably destroy the chariot before they could even reach the finish line.

 

As the chariots began to line up, the two of them watch what each of cabins brought in store. As expected, Hephaestus’ chariot is decked out with the coolest gadgets and machinery that could guarantee a win. Athena’s cabin looked just as much modified and with their intellectual minds, they probably had some nasty tricks up their sleeves. Apollo’s chariot as always is the flashiest, embroidered in gold that shimmers under the hot summer sun followed by Aphrodite’s chariot which is decorated in beautiful bells that chime when the wind blows. 

 

When they finally announce everybody to get into positions for the race, Keith places a hand on Lance’s shoulder.

 

“Breathe, don’t panic okay? You’re going to be great. We’re going to win this,” Keith clenches his fist and raises it, he offers Lance a warm smile that is specifically for the son of Khione.

He does that often. Lance, despite it not being as bad as it was before the tournament, he is still suffering with his self-consciousness. Keith helps. A lot. He’d probably still be suffering with that voice jeering at him every minute of the day if it weren’t for Keith. Lance fist bumps Keith before mounting the chariot. When Keith boarded the chariot he places a hand on Lance, a final reminder that he’s there for Lance before taking out his sword. 

 

They breeze by the chariot race and win with few scratches on their chariot. They had a bit of trouble with the Hephaestus and Athena cabin but they were able to defeat them.

 

The Ares cabin and Lance’s siblings were cheering when they reached the podium to receive their wreaths. Keith kissed Lance on the cheek causing the crowd to erupt into enormous cheering. 

 

And hey, he doesn’t have to do chores for the next month so that’s a plus. 

\--

 

“You’re doing great, I’m amazed on how quickly you’ve been improving in such a short amount of time,” Shiro compliments Lance as he watches him parry Keith’s attack.

 

Lance smiles proudly to himself as he lunges and manages to catch Keith off of his guard, he stumbles back but manages to quickly bounce back by knocking the sword out of Lance’s hand. Lance watches his sword skid across the floor before turning back to Keith and pouting.

 

“Can’t you cut me some slack?” Lance whines as he goes after his weapon.

 

“I am,” Keith simply replies. 

 

Lance groans, “ _ One day. _ ”

 

Keith snorts, “ _ Okay _ .”

 

“Hold up, hold up,” a newcomer’s voice chimes in. The three demigods find Lotor and Allura racing towards their direction. Allura has her hand raised as she approaches them. When the two finally reach them, Allura bends over, placing her hands on her knees and catches her breath before straightening herself. She indicates Lotor standing next to her, “Lotor says he wants a rematch.”

 

“Now?” Keith asks giving the demigod a look of disbelief, “Can’t it wait?”

 

Lotor smiles teasingly, “Want more time with your boyfriend, don’t you?” He raises his arms in surrender as he sits down on the ground next to Shiro, “Mind if I watch?”

 

Keith turns to Lance, “Are you alright with it?”

 

Lance nods, “I don’t mind. Do you?”

 

“I don’t mind,” Keith shrugs, “But if you don’t want to that’s okay.” 

 

“Really, whatever you’d like. I don’t--

 

“Can’t the two of you just decide already?” Lotor exasperatedly cuts in as he leans back, “My gods, how do the two of you deal with them?” 

 

Allura smiles fondly at the two demigods as she shrugs, “You just learn to.”

 

Lance turns to Lotor, “Fight me, you son of a  witch.”

 

Lotor stands up, smiling as he takes out his sword, “Gladly--”

 

“Hold it,” Keith raises his hand stepping in between the two demigods getting ready to fight. He turns to Lance, “No offense but you’re going to get your ass kicked.” He turns back to Lotor, “I’ll verse you right now.”

 

Lotor smiles, “Excellent,” he turns to Lance, “Want to join? I know your boyfriend said I’m going to beat you but I’ll go easy on you.” He gives Lance a wink.

 

Lance nods, “Sure.”

 

Keith turns to Lance with a look of worry, “You sure?”

 

Lance nods giving him the widest smile, “Positive.”

 

“Alright,” Keith returns the smile and squeezes Lance’s arm, “Shiro?”

 

“Alright, you all know the drill. On guard!”

  
  


\--

It’s the last day of summer camp. Most of the campers have already left to return home. Lance is already packed up waiting for his family to pick him up. Sitting under the pine tree is relaxing, it provides a bit of cool air in the hot afternoon. Lance likes to watch the clouds go by while waiting for his parents to pick him up. 

 

Keith is dozing off beside him. He’s on his side, curled up, his long hair covering his face. Lance can hear Keith’s soft snores in their proximity. Lance chuckles as he runs a smoothing hand through Keith’s hair, feeling the soft texture glide across his finger tips. Keith stirs awake, eyes opening wide as he looks at Lance.

 

“Afternoon sleepyhead,” Lance teases as Keith scowls.

 

“You’re still here?” Keith asks.

 

“No, I’m just a fragment of your imagination.”

 

Keith smiles sleepily, “Good, finally glad to have gotten rid of you.”

 

Lance laughs as he scoots closer to Keith. He pouts, “You don’t actually  _ mean _ that right?”

 

Keith places his hand on Lance’s knee, “Of course I don’t. I love your company.”

 

Lance snorts playfully shoving Keith, “You dick.”

 

Keith yawns and stretches his arms. He pauses drowsily looking at Lance with so much love and passion he can’t help but smile at the son of Ares. Keith smiles back before he lies back down again, resting his head on Lance’s lap. Lance chuckles as he runs his hand through the black locks. He’s going to miss Keith when he comes back home. Sure, he can visit Long island on the weekends but he’s going to get busy. Besides, he likes Keith’s company, and who else is going to help Lance with his anxiety? He’s afraid of what will happen if he doesn’t have Keith by his side making sure everything is okay. Unless...

 

“You should come to Brooklyn with me,” Lance suggests.

 

Keith is quiet for a few moments, considering Lance’s words. Lance doesn’t have to say anything as to why he wants to bring Keith with him. Finally, he lets out a sigh. “I can’t,” Keith says, “I have no family out there, I have to stay here.”

 

“C’mon, when was the last time you’ve gotten out of this camp?” Lance teasingly pokes Keith’s side, “Hmm? A year?”

 

“A year and a half,” Keith replies turning his head to look up at Lance, “Besides,  _ If _ I were to go with you, where would I stay?”

 

Lance leans down to Keith as he says, “My family would love to have you around.”

 

“No,” Keith says as he pushes Lance’s face away with his hand, “I would be a burden.”

 

“No you won’t!” Lance insists, “Rosa will love you believe me, and my little sister Isabella will love to braid your hair and the two of us can play games with Dylan. We’ll be going to the same school. Wouldn’t it fun spending our junior year together? You can try-out for a sports team, we can study together,” Lance boops Keith’s nose, “You can be my date to Prom, and you know...” Lance blushes as he trails off.

 

Keith give Lance a sympathetic look. He does look like he wants to go with Lance, but he just needs a little bit of a push. Lance gives him that push. 

 

Lance smiles, “Please?”

 

Keith sighs as he sits up, “Okay, I’ll get my stuff.” 

 

Lance’s heart leaps in joy of the news, “Yes! This is going to be great!” He hugs Keith and kisses all over his face. Realizing how excited he, is he pauses and blushes, “I mean, I’m glad you’re coming with me.”

 

Keith smiles, his cheeks just as red as he takes Lance’s hand and squeezes it.  _ You’re not alone _ . 

 

“Shit,” he slaps his hand on his face, “I have to tell the others I won’t be staying here too.”

 

“It’s okay,” Lance says as he turns his back to find his dad’s van parked at the end of the hill waiting to pick up Lance. Through the windows he can see his sibling’s faces mushed against the glass trying to catch a glance of their brother. Lance smiles warmingly down at them, “I have to tell my parents about my plus one anyways.”

 

“Okay,” Keith says as the two part. He kisses Lance’s cheek, “I’ll meet you down there once I’m finished alright?”

 

“Alright,” Lance replies as he heads down the hill. 

 

“And Lance?”

 

Lance pauses and turns around to look up at Keith. In the afternoon sky, he glows and Lance swears he just gets brighter and brighter every day. Keith smiles confidently.

 

“I call shotgun.” 

 

Lance laughs as he raises the middle finger and heads down to his family sitting in the van. His father is already starting up the vehicle when Lance approaches them.

 

“Hey Lance,” his father says, “How was your summer?”

 

“Good,” Lance replies as he loads his stuff into the backseat. He smiles as he greets his siblings before turning to his father. He takes a deep breath. He’s got this. Keith will be there to help him, and his family is going to love their new addition. He smiles at his dad as he says, “By the way dad, there’s somebody I’d like you to meet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art by: [Fell](https://ifellfromtheskies.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [Scream](https://rosiekeith.tumblr.com) with me about season 6 please I'm dying. 
> 
> Thank you for reading, comments are always appreciated! <3


End file.
